Latecomers

19 Aug 2020 By Gina Chon Follow @GinaChon

WeChat’s owner made its first hire to influence Washington amid a threat to ban the Chinese app. Huawei boosted government efforts after its finance chief was arrested. TikTok was less flat-footed but still tardy. Courting politicians works better before their help is needed.

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Chinese technology giant Tencent hired its first Washington, D.C. lobbyist, Roberto Gonzalez, a partner at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, according to congressional disclosures posted on Aug. 14. He was deputy general counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department in President Barack Obama's administration and held other positions in government.

Gonzalez was hired on Aug. 7, a day after President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring U.S. transactions with Tencent’s WeChat app and other entities starting in 45 days.

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