Former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., right, who is running for Senate, speaks at a Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump campaign event in Freeland, Mich., May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers’ campaign website is filled with tough on China rhetoric, even though he has a long record of helping expand the reach of Chinese companies in the U.S. and Europe.

In line with many GOP Senate candidates like David McCormick and Eric Hovde, Rogers’ campaign website is full of tough-on-China rhetoric, with one section claiming that the former congressman was “among the first to sound the alarm on the economic and national security danger posed by China.”

In direct contrast to these words, Rogers opposed trade restrictions on China during his 14 years in Congress from 2001-2015. In 2005, Rogers did not cosponsor a bill to withdraw permanent normal trade relations with China, despite several House Republicans doing so.

In addition to his actions in Congress, Rogers has also personally benefitted from his connections to China in opposition to U.S. national security interests. According to Rogers’ own financial disclosures from December, he worked as a risk analyst for the American branch of the European technology company Nokia for the last seven years, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars. During Rogers’ tenure with Nokia, the company has conducted extensive business deals with the Chinese tech companies like Huawei.

Since 2018, the U.S. has sanctioned Huawei and prohibited the government from using the company’s products over national security concerns. Former President Donald Trump, who was on stage with Rogers at a rally in Freeland, Mich. last Wednesday, signed this ban into law in 2018. After these sanctions, American tech companies distanced themselves from Huawei, with Google cutting off the company from Android hardware and software services. The Biden administration also banned the sale of Huawei products in 2022.

At the same time, Nokia was strengthening its connections with Huawei, with a licensing deal in December 2022 and another one with a Huawei subsidiary called Honor in 2024. According to Rogers’ financial disclosures, he did not leave Nokia after these deals were closed and still gets paid as a risk analyst to this day. In 2012, Rogers specifically condemned the dangers of Huawei when he co-authored a report regarding the company’s national security threats. He also urged U.S. businesses against conducting business with Huawei during a “60 Minutes” interview in 2012.

Rogers is the current Republican frontrunner in the U.S. Senate in Michigan after receiving an endorsement from Trump in March. On the opposite side is U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D), who reported an enormous $8.6 million cash reserve last month after raising $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2024. With Rogers out of the political arena for nearly a decade and Slotkin posting record fundraising numbers, the Michigan Senate race currently leans Democrat in the bid to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D).