Rep. Claudia Tenney pushed for New York state to divest retirement fund from China

New York Rep. Claudia Tenney (R) is pushing her state's comptroller to divest public pension funds from Chinese-run companies.

In a letter sent to the comptroller Thomas DiNapoli (D), Tenney urges the state to move New York State Common Retirement Funds out of stocks and bonds in the Chinese private equity firm Boyu Capital. 

According to the letter, originally acquired by the Daily Caller, Tenney calls investments in Boyu and other Chinese companies "completely unacceptable" and encouraging of "engagement in human rights abuses across the globe."

"Many of your portfolio companies may be directly contributing to illegal or otherwise destabilizing activities, including but not limited to supporting atrocities against the Uyghur population, the build-up of the Chinese military, and unfair trade practices that have decimated our industrial base, including my Upstate district," she wrote.

Tenney believes the retirements of New York state public servants should not be potentially risked or compromised by investments in Chinese companies that act in the interest of the Chinese Communist Party and openly defy U.S. investor protections.

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian president Vladimir Putin, DiNapoli announced that the NYSCRF would end new investments in Russian companies and would conduct a review of all current Russian holdings with the possibility of divestment.