FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 2, 2023

Contact: Ian Fury

Governor Noem Pushes Vanguard for Anti-China Emerging Markets Fund

Advances South Dakota’s Blueprint to Fight Communist China

PIERRE, S.D. –  Today, Governor Kristi Noem urged Vanguard to finalize creating an emerging markets fund that excludes any investments in China. She did so in a letter to Mortimer Buckley, Chief Executive Officer of Vanguard, which you can read here.

“The largest risk to America’s security is posed by the Chinese Communist Party – including to our financial security,” wrote Governor Noem. “Communist China continues to infiltrate and target my state and others in the United States, making this specific product key in protecting state assets and investment dollars managed by your company.”

This was a follow-up letter to a May letter strongly encouraging Vanguard to offer an emerging market funds that excludes China as soon as possible. China is no longer an “emerging market,” and Vanguard has a duty to help insulate citizens from the risk posed by the Chinese Communist Party. Governor Noem led that letter with three of her fellow Republican governors.

In the letter, Governor Noem stresses that China “can no longer be fairly characterized as an ‘emerging market’” because they are the second largest economy in the world and are posturing themselves as a strategic competitor to the United States.

According to a Reuters article from just a week ago, “Global investors are increasingly choosing to bypass China’s markets in favour of other emerging countries.” And Barron’s reports that “Emerging market funds that exclude China are beating the index,” meaning that they are outperforming funds that do include China.

This letter advances South Dakota’s blueprint to fight communist China. Governor Noem has taken strong action against the Chinese Communist Party, including:

• Respecting Freedom and keeping South Dakota “Open for Business” when China unleased the COVID-19 virus on the world;
• Banning TikTok and Tencent for state government;
• Banning state government form doing business with certain telecommunications companies associated with six evil foreign governments, including China; and,
• Expanding South Dakotas medical cache and urging Congress and the FDA to take action to combat the shortage of prescription drugs in the United States.

South Dakota is continuing to set an example for the rest of the nation as to what state-led foreign policy can look like. This is South Dakota’s blueprint: More Freedom, Less China.

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