In what could amount to making a mountain out of a molehill, multiple media outlets are reporting that the “U.S. government is looking into” the October 6 sale of New York’s Waldorf Astoria by Hilton Hotels Corp. for US$1.95 billion to Chinese company Anbang Insurance over concerns about a planned major renovation potentially creating security risks and fears of Chinese eavesdropping and cyber espionage.
In this case, “the government” is Kurtis Cooper, a spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, who said decisions about the future of the U.S. relationship with the Waldorf would be made based on cost, Anbang’s long-term plans for the hotel and the government’s needs and security concerns. Officials said specifics of the renovation plan would be a key issue of the review.
Unnamed government officials also said the sale could have implications for the government’s longstanding relationship with the hotel, which serves as home to the American ambassador to the United Nations and hosts the president and hundreds of U.S. diplomats during the annual U.N. General Assembly.
For more than 50 years, the State Department has leased a residence for the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. on the 42nd floor of the hotel’s Waldorf Towers. Every September, the department takes over two floors of the Waldorf to serve as headquarters for U.S. diplomats attending the U.N. General Assembly. During the session, the president spends several nights at the Waldorf.
U.S. law allows the department to rent the ambassador’s residence for a term of 10 years or less. The current lease expires next year with an option to renew it for one or two years. It was not immediately clear if the review would affect decisions about the possible renewal of the existing lease.
Ending the government’s relationship with the Waldorf could be problematic and expensive, according to officials who note that numerous studies conducted during both Republican and Democratic administrations have concluded that it is cost effective and convenient.