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Rep. Judy Chu Was Named ‘Honorary Chairwoman’ Of Alleged Chinese Intel Front Group

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California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu was appointed to a leadership position within an alleged Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence front group in 2019, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.

In August 2019, Chu was named “honorary chairwoman” of the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China, an organization which opposes Taiwan’s independence, according to a DCNF translation of multiple sources. However, the U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission (USCC) has previously identified the organization as serving a CCP “intelligence service,” while multiple experts told the DCNF that they agreed with USCC’s determination.

Chu and the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

The Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China is one of 33 anti-Taiwan independence organizations in the U.S. which serve as subchapters of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR), an organization USCC labeled as “directly subordinate” to the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in 2018.

The UFWD’s “primary missions” are to “liaison with foreign political parties,” “influence operations” and “intelligence collection,” the USCC has stated, and, towards that end, the CCP deploys UFWD operatives around the world to “co-opt and neutralize” potential opposition groups such as “ethnic minorities, religious groups and intellectuals.”

The Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China appointed Chu their “honorary chairwoman” during the 34th inauguration ceremony of the organization’s executive committee held at the Capital Seafood restaurant in Monterey Park on August 23, 2019, according to a DCNF translation of an article by the Las Vegas Chinese News Network and the website of another UFWD affiliate.

Several experts on Chinese intelligence operations confirmed that the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China is a Chinese intelligence influence operation connected to the UFWD after reviewing Chinese government websites, USCC’s report and Chinese-language news sources.

“They are the same organization,” Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute, told the DCNF.

Hsiao cited a 2013 article by Chinese state-run media outlet People’s Daily, which, among other things, highlighted the groups links to the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate as well as other groups in southern California allegedly tied to the CCP.

“Yes, absolutely,” Dr. June Tuefel Dreyer, former USCC commissioner, told the DCNF. “I don’t think they’re working very hard to hide that.”

Despite the organization’s apparent UFWD ties, U.S. authorities may still misjudge the group as a mere “social organization,” Dreyer said.

“Anyone with basic understanding of Chinese language, China-Taiwan relations, and the politics of related affinity groups within the United States would easily see similarities between the problematic United Front organization identified by the USCC and its southern California chapter where Rep. Judy Chu appears to have been appointed honorary chair,” Steve Yates, former Chinese language analyst for the National Security Agency, told the DCNF.

Chu received a signed English certificate at the August 2019 event from Guo Zhiming, the incoming “chairman” of the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China, stating that her appointment was in recognition of her “outstanding friendship and support,” according to photos of the event posted by the Las Vegas Chinese News Network.

Chu advocated against Taiwan’s independence at the event, stating that she wished for China and Taiwan “to become one family,” according to a DCNF translation of an archived article posted by the Alliance for China’s Peaceful Reunification USA (ACPRUSA), an anti-Taiwan independence organization also listed as one of CCPPNR’s 33 U.S. chapters.

While the full range of duties expected from the “honorary chairwoman” of the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China remains unclear, during the 2019 event, Chu served as a ceremony “witness” and “supervised” the transfer of the organization’s official seal between the outgoing and incoming chairmen, according to a DCNF translation of ACPRUSA’s website.

It also remains unclear whether or not Chu continues to serve as the organization’s “honorary chairwoman” or is still involved with the organization in any capacity.

“Getting American leaders to be seen standing against the will of the Taiwan people in favor of Beijing’s position is a core objective of the United Front,” Yates told the DCNF. “In name and in substance, such leaders allow themselves to be used as a tool to demoralize Taiwan and empower a government who spends every moment of every day undermining American interests and American allies.”

However, Chu’s 2019 appointment as “honorary chairwoman” of the alleged UFWD front group appears in contrast with her previous public support for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the U.S. in August 2018, as reported by Politico, during which time Chu and two other congressmen welcomed Tsai at the Los Angeles airport.

In August 2022, Chu claimed that she’d “always supported Taiwan” prior to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, CNN reported. Yet, at the time, Chu also never offered firm support for Pelosi’s visit either, claiming that she’d “leave it up to those who are going to make that decision,” according to CNN.

More recently, Rep. Chu voted against the formation of the House Select Committee on Jan. 10, whose agenda includes investigating how the U.S. can better combat CCP espionage as well as how the U.S. military should counter Beijing’s increasingly belligerent actions in the waters around Taiwan. While justifying her vote, Chu claimed that the committee could spur anti-Asian violence, according to a statement released by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), which Chu chairs.

The revelations surrounding Rep. Chu’s role in the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China comes after the DCNF revealed that Chu has served as the “honorary president” of the All America Chinese Youth Federation since 2012, an organization whose leadership includes several individuals who’ve belonged to alleged front groups serving the CCP’s UFWD.

Rep. Chu’s involvement with the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China began as early as March 2012, when the California congresswoman attended an inaugural ceremony for the organization’s 19th executive committee, Chinese government records reveal. In addition to Chu, the ceremony was also attended by Qiu Shaofang, former consul general of the Los Angeles Consulate, according to the records.

The Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China has apparently coordinated closely with the Chinese government and the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate in particular, the DCNF determined, with Chinese government sources recording more than half a dozen official meetings between consular officials and the alleged UFWD front group between 2005 and 2014 alone.

The Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China has also apparently worked closely with CCPPNR since its inception, with CCPPNR’s “deputy secretary general” Wang Changyu, a CCP member, having attended the organization’s founding ceremony in Los Angeles in August 2002, according to a DCNF translation of CCPPNR’s website.

Similarly, the former “chairman” of the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China, Zhou Dezhao, traveled to Beijing in 2015 to meet with CCPPNR’s “honorary president,” according to DCNF translations of CCPPNR’s website.

“Zhou is without a doubt connected to [the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China] and served as its 32nd rotating chairman from 2017 to 2018,” Hsiao told the DCNF, while identifying Zhou standing near Rep. Chu within a photo from the aforementioned 2019 event.

Zhou did not respond to the DCNF’s questions regarding the nature of the relationship between CCPPNR and the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China.

Dreyer told the DCNF that the leadership of the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China and related UFWD front groups were certainly “aware” that the organization was working with the Chinese government.

“The reason they’re chosen as leaders is because they are amenable to the Chinese Communist government’s message,” said Dreyer. “The leaderships share the core directorate, so to speak; they take orders from the same entity.”

CCPPNR’s front groups have spread propaganda “closely aligned” with official CCP propaganda, The Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank, reported in 2018. The Jamestown Foundation cited a statement from the website of the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU), which insisted that the “U.S. government and Congress” agree not to fight in a “possible war” between Beijing and Taipei “caused by the provocation of separatism in Taiwan.”

Conversely, some members of CCPPNR’s front groups may also simply see their membership in “opportunistic terms of networking, and of signaling loyalty to the Chinese government — with the potential benefits that may follow — rather than as a means to effect substantive change in U.S. policy,” The Jamestown Foundation reported.

The Chinese Consulate did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

PHILIP LENCZYCKI

Daily Caller News Foundation investigative reporter, political journalist, and China watcher. Twitter: @LenczyckiPhilip

RELATED ARTICLE: Dem Rep Who Opposed New China Committee Serves On Non-Profit That Shares Staff With Alleged Chinese Intel Front Groups

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Dem Rep Who Opposed New China Committee Serves On Non-Profit That Shares Staff With Alleged Chinese Intel Front Groups

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A Democratic congresswoman serves on a non-profit which has shared multiple personnel with alleged Chinese intelligence front groups, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu joined the All America Chinese Youth Federation (AACYF) in 2012 and remains listed as “honorary president” on the 501(c)(3) non-profit’s website, according to a DCNF translation. During Chu’s tenure at AACYF, its leadership has included multiple individuals who’ve belonged to China-based organizations that allegedly operate as front groups for a Chinese intelligence service.

The DCNF located Chu’s Chinese name, Zhao Meixin, within a New York Times article and matched it with AACYF’s records to determine her membership. Chu did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Although it remains unclear what specific responsibilities Chu has as AACYF’s “honorary president,” the congresswoman has led events held by the organization, such as during a November 2013 Silicon Valley tech summit where Chu served as “chairman,” according to a DCNF translation of AACYF’s website.

Five of AACYF’s leaders who’ve served at the non-profit during Chu’s tenure have belonged to organizations allegedly serving a Chinese government agency tasked with overseeing and coordinating CCP influence operations, the DCNF determined. The so-called United Front Work Department (UFWD) has been identified by government agencies, legislative bodies and experts as a central organ of CCP influence efforts, and experts also say UFWD works in concert with Chinese intelligence operatives.

“There is no exact counterpart in the United States for what [the UFWD] does,” Dr. John Lenczowski, former director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council under President Ronald Reagan, told the DCNF. “There is a strategic integration between the intelligence services and the UFWD in a way that has no parallel between U.S. intelligence, and, say, the National Endowment for Democracy, or even the State Department in its public diplomacy activities.”

“The reality of it is that the Chinese have been conducting a Cold War and we’ve not,” Lenczowski said.

The CCP’s UFWD “cultivates and controls pervasive networks of affiliates around the world” and has thereby secured “unchallenged direction” over large numbers of overseas Chinese “organizations and Chinese-language media, providing infrastructure for corruption, political interference and malign influence,” the 2020 House China Task Force report stated.

“This is what the communists do,” Brandon Weichert, a consultant to the U.S. Air Force, told the DCNF. “They create front organizations in countries that are open societies, like ours, to try to surreptitiously influence events, businesses and leaders in those countries to shape them into acting in accordance with China’s national interest and strategic needs.”

“In many cases, the players involved are sort of useful idiots or willing dupes. In some cases, they’re fellow travelers,” Weichert added.

‘Facts and Reality’

Rep. Chu recently voted against the formation of the House Select Committee tasked with examining, among other things, Chinese influence in the United States. In defense of her vote, Chu claimed that the initiative could lead to anti-Asian violence, according to a statement released by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), which Chu chairs.

CAPAC did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

California Republican Rep. Mike Garcia told the DCNF that Chu’s vote against the formation of the select committee on China ignored “facts and reality.” Garcia told the DCNF that the new committee, which Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher is slated to lead, will “combat the CCP, not the Chinese people.”

“The vast majority of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle supported the creation of this committee,” Garcia said, referring to the resolution which passed 365-65.

The United Front

Chu appears to have served as AACYF’s “honorary president” alongside Chi Honghu, who is listed as an “honorary adviser” on the organization’s website, a role he has held in various forms since at least 2009, according to a DCNF translation.

However, just before joining AACYF, Chi apparently spent the previous decade or so as “director” of the China Overseas Friendship Association (COFA), according to a DCNF translation of COFA’s website and Chinese government records.

COFA was founded by the CCP’s Central Committee and the UFWD in 1997 and has been listed as a UFWD “work unit,” according to DCNF translations of archived versions of those organizations’ websites.

In 2018, the U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission (USCC) identified the group as a UFWD intelligence operation, referring to it as “the UFWD China Overseas Friendship Association.”

After Rep. Chu’s colleague, Chi, joined AACYF, he was also identified as an “adviser” for the China Overseas Exchange Association (COEA) within a series of Chinese government announcements beginning as early as 2010, according to a DCNF translation, and apparently continued to serve in this capacity until at least 2018.

Several experts on Chinese intelligence operations have identified COEA as a UFWD front group, including Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg, who characterized COEA as a “UFWD agency” in their 2020 book on Chinese intelligence, “Hidden Hand.”

Similarly, Geoff Wade, a China-focused historian at Australian National University, also identified COEA as a UFWD front.

“[COEA had] the same address as the [Overseas Chinese Affairs Office],” Wade told the DCNF, which he claims indicates that the Chinese government agency controlled COEA.

Chi and AACYF did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

‘Directly Subordinate To The UFWD’

Several Chinese government announcements running from 2011 to 2018 also identified another current AACYF “honorary president,” Florence Fang, as having held various positions with COEA, according to a DCNF translation.

Fang formally served as “executive director” of COEA’s 4th Council between 2009 and 2013, the DCNF determined after reviewing Chinese government records and the Florence Fang Family Foundation’s website. The DCNF matched Fang’s Chinese name, Fang Li Bangqin, which is listed on her foundation’s website, with Chinese-language records in order to establish her various roles with COEA.

Fang has served as AACYF’s “honorary president” alongside Rep. Chu since 2012 and has held the position since at least 2006, according to a DCNF translation of an archived version of AACYF’s website. Fang’s tenure at AACYF overlapped with her time as COEA’s “executive director” between 2009 and 2013 and also overlapped with her role as COEA’s “consultant” between 2013 and 2018.

In 2019, Fang also appears to have attended COFA’s 5th Council meeting in Beijing, according to Chinese government records. At the event, Fang appears to have sat just seats away from General Secretary Xi Jinping during a group photo and applauded the communist dictator as he shook hands with other members of the alleged Chinese intelligence front group, footage from Chinese state-run media CCTV revealed.

Fang is also the “founding president” and current “honorary chairman” of the Northern California Association for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, an organization which opposes Taiwan’s independence, a DCNF translation of her foundation’s website reveals.

The 2018 USCC report identified Fang’s association as one of “33 chapters in the United States” listed on the website of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification (CCPPR), an organization the USCC said is “directly subordinate to the UFWD.”

Fang has fundraised for Republican Jeb Bush, as well as several California Democratic politicians including Sen. Dianne Feinstein and representatives Barbara Lee and Nancy Pelosi, the DCNF found.

Fang did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

In addition to Chi and Fang, several other AACYF colleagues of Rep. Chu also belong to an alleged UFWD anti-Taiwan independence front group, the DCNF determined.

AACYF’s current “director general,” Zhu Bingfeng, as well as the organization’s “president,” Ren Xiangdong, have belonged to Chu’s organization since at least 2006, DCNF translations of AACYF’s website determined.

Yet, both Zhu and Ren apparently also hold leadership roles at the American Chinese Youth Federation for the Peaceful Reunification of China, according to DCNF translations of the websites of AACYF and the alleged UFWD front group CCPPR.

As with Fang’s anti-Taiwan independence organization, Zhu and Ren’s organization is also listed as one of the “33 chapters in the United States” that the 2018 USCC report identified as belonging to CCPPR.

Zhu and Ren did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s request for comment.

‘Thousand Talents’

AACYF has also interacted with and supported several UFWD front groups during Rep. Chu’s tenure at the non-profit, the DCNF discovered.

Just months after Chu became an “honorary president” at AACYF in October 2012, the group began advertising a recruitment drive on behalf of the “Thousand Talents Plan” in March 2013, according to an archived version of the Chinese-language website.

The Thousand Talents Plan is a Chinese government program originally designed to recruit “high-quality overseas experts” and allegedly incentivize them to transfer U.S. intellectual property to China, according to Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

An archived version of the Thousand Talents Plan’s website states the program is managed by the Western Returned Scholars Association, which is a UFWD front group, according to the USCC. The Thousand Talents Plan is also a means of economic espionage, FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a 2020 event held at the Washington, D.C., Hudson Institute concerning Chinese government influence operations.

“Perhaps Representative Chu’s concerns and those of like-minded colleagues would be eased by spending more time engaging those constituents and less associating with groups linked to the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party,” Steve Yates, a former Chinese language analyst for the National Security Agency, told the DCNF.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

AUTHOR

PHILIP LENCZYCKI

Daily Caller News Foundation investigative reporter, political journalist, and China watcher. Twitter: @LenczyckiPhilip

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

U.S. Media Outlet Has Extensive Partnerships, Financial Dealings With Orgs Tied To Chinese Communist Party Influence Operations

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  • Approximately 20 organizations that may be headed by members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or members of alleged Chinese influence operations have sponsored or partnered with The China Project (TCP), a China-focused New York media outlet, the Daily Caller News Foundation determined.
  • TCP recently denied working for or with the CCP after a former employee sent an Oct. 21 declaration to the Department of Justice and Congress accusing the outlet of harboring a pro-CCP bias. 
  • “We must help defend our fellow citizens and lawful permanent residents from pressure — and in many cases, transnational repression up to and including assassination attempts — by the Chinese Communist Party,” New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith told the DCNF.

The China Project (TCP), a New York-based media outlet renowned for its China reporting, has had professional and financial ties with organizations that may have been headed by members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or members of alleged Chinese influence operations, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

Over 20 organizations that may have been led by such individuals have apparently partnered with or financially sponsored TCP, including the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) and the Confucius Institute, the DCNF found. Both groups apparently began professional relationships with TCP after the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) identified them as CCP influence operations in 2018. Furthermore, the DCNF found that TCP’s “board director,” Clarence Kwan, may have been simultaneously serving as a director of an alleged CCP front group at the time he joined TCP’s board and provided initial equity in the company.

Kwan did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

These revelations come over a month after journalist Shannon Van Sant, a former TCP business editor, delivered a sworn declaration to Congress and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Oct. 21, alleging TCP fired her in June 2020 for being out of “alignment” with the organization’s alleged pro-CCP bias.

Van Sant’s declaration also stated that after being fired she “conducted open source research and found links between the organization and China’s Communist Party,” however, Van Sant’s declaration did not provide any documentation to substantiate her claim.

“It is important to me to provide transparency and shed light on my experiences,” Van Sant’s declaration stated. “That is why I am doing this disclosure.”

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith — both of whom sit on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China — recently told Semafor that TCP “should be forced to register” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires the disclosure of service to foreign entities.

In response, TCP’s attorneys at Boies Schiller Flexner sent a 12-page letter to Semafor on Oct. 31, demanding Semafor retract their piece on Van Sant’s allegations. TCP’s attorneys allege Van Sant had been fired for “poor work performance” and had “an axe to grind.”

“Nothing in Ms. Van Sant’s ‘sworn declaration’ comes close to providing evidence, direct or circumstantial, that TCP is working for or has worked for the Chinese government,” Boies Schiller Flexner wrote to Semafor.

Neither TCP nor their attorneys at Boies Schiller Flexner responded to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF. Van Sant declined the DCNF’s request for comment through her representatives at Whistleblower Aid.

‘A Jewel In The Crown Of China Reporting’

TCP — which until September was known as “SupChina” — is a multimedia group that claims to reach “more than two million people per month” through a variety of platforms including news articles and podcasts. Former Ambassador to China Max Baucus — who recently came under fire for Nov. 11 and 12 meetings with alleged Chinese influence operatives — called TCP “a jewel in the crown of China reporting,” according to the outlet’s website.

The multimedia outlet also runs a nonprofit arm, Serica, which seeks “to educate and cultivate empathy around the issues of Sinophobia and anti-Asian hate,” according to its website. TCP also maintains a “United States Sinophobia Tracker” that’s collected numerous articles on CCP espionage allegations, such as a 2020 NBC News piece about the growing number of FBI counterintelligence cases, which TCP tags on its website as “paranoid rhetoric.”

TCP has also published articles and podcasts critical of the DOJ’s China Initiative — an anti-espionage program launched during the Trump administration which was ultimately terminated in February 2022 after the “civil rights community” expressed concern that the program had “fueled a narrative of intolerance and bias,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said at the time.

China’s United Front

In her declaration to the federal government, Van Sant claims to have discovered links between TCP and the China Overseas Exchange Association (COEA), an organization which billed itself as an “important platform and bridge for people-to-people exchanges,” according to an archived version of COEA’s website.

China intelligence analyst and former senior analyst at the Canberra-based Australian Strategic Policy Institute Alex Joske identified COEA as a “key” United Front Work Department (UFWD) front group that merged with the China Overseas Friendship Association (COFA) in 2019 — an organization which USCC also identified as a UFWD front group.

Joske is the author of “Spies and Lies: How China’s Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World” published in October 2022, which was well-received by the international press.

The UFWD is a Chinese government agency, which oversees CCP influence operations and reports directly to the CCP’s Central Committee, according to USCC. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the UFWD. He even described the agency as the CCP’s “magic weapon” for “realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” in a 2015 speech.

“The UFWD is essentially an intelligence agency of the CCP tasked with infiltrating different communities and organizations, co-opting and influencing them,” Salih Hudayar, Uyghur prime minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, told the DCNF.

While TCP’s attorneys conceded in their October letter to Semafor that Kwan formerly served as a COEA “director,” they claim his involvement with the group “was limited to participating in two trips to China in 2013 and 2014.” TCP’s attorneys also claimed Kwan’s COEA tenure preceded his joining TCP’s board and his providing nearly 2% of the outlet’s initial equity.

Yet, the DCNF discovered that archived versions of COEA’s website — which was deleted after the organization merged with COFA around 2019 — list Kwan as a “director” for two consecutive four-year terms running from 2013-2017 and 2017-2021. This appears to indicate that Kwan’s time at COEA overlapped with his $150,000 purchase of SupChina First Notes in September 2016, according to Security and Exchange Commission filings. Likewise, this indicates Kwan may have been serving as COEA’s director when he assumed the role of “director” of SupChina — now called TCP — in May 2017.

Kwan is currently listed as an “advisory board member” on TCP’s website.

Additionally, Kwan appears to have also held leadership positions in several companies that have financially sponsored TCP, including KCY Family Office, East West Bank and Piermont Bank, the DCNF found.

The Committee Of 100

TCP also appears to have partnered with, and donated $25,000 to, a New York-based organization called the Committee of 100 (C100) — a nonprofit that claims to seek “constructive dialogue and relationships between the peoples of the United States and Greater China.”

Yet, C100 members appear to have included Chinese government advisers and 10 COEA directors, including Kwan, who, based on the committee’s website, may have served as C100’s chairman while simultaneously serving as COEA’s director.

Moreover, in addition to TCP’s founder, Anla Cheng — a hedge fund manager by trade, who apparently is also a trustee and former C100 director — seven of TCP’s 23 advisory board members appear to belong to C100, including John Long, S. Alice Mong, Frank Wu, Li Cheng, Ted Wang, Janet Yang and Lesley Ma.

TCP’s attorneys accused Semafor’s article of relying on “racial profiling and stereotypes” by citing a C100 report which claimed “Asian defendants are more than twice as likely to be falsely accused of espionage” without acknowledging any financial or personnel ties between the two organizations.

C100 did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

‘CCP Agents Often Target The Chinese Diaspora’

Van Sant also claims in her 11-page declaration that the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) told TCP’s founder, Cheng, in June 2020 about a Chinese scientist whom the U.S. government had charged with espionage, prompting Cheng to direct staff to “protect him.”

CAST is a unit of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which oversees the UFWD, according to USCC. The CPPCC “operates as a way for the CCP to falsely claim that it represents the full breadth of Chinese society,” according to a 2020 report written by Joske, the intel analyst.

“In practice, those organizations are controlled by the CCP,” Joske wrote. “Their leaders are often party members, and, historically, some have been manipulated through inducement and coercion, including blackmail.”

Although TCP’s attorneys did not deny Van Sant’s allegation in their letter to Semafor, they claimed that “protecting a ‘wrongly investigated’ Chinese scientist” did not amount to “evidence of espionage.”

Yet, TCP listed CAST as a “partner organization” on flyers from a 2022 “Women’s Conference,” the DCNF found.

Furthermore, TCP appears to have partnered with around 10 organizations that may be led by members of the CCP or alleged UFWD fronts, the DCNF found. For example, the “About Us” tab on CAST’s website includes a section on “Leading Party Members” and features CAST’s Party Secretary Zhang Yuzhuo and five other Communist Party members.

Likewise, TCP partnered with another organization called NYO China for its 2019 “Women’s Conference.” NYO China appears to be headed by He Mei, vice chairman of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), which was identified by USCC as a UFWD front back in 2018.

The year before the State Department designated the Confucius Institute as a UFWD “foreign mission” in 2020, TCP also partnered with the Chinese government-run propaganda center to host an event on “China’s Food Revolution.” Li Changchun, former CCP propaganda chief, once called Confucius Institutes “an important part of China’s overseas propaganda setup,” according to the State Department.

“Confucius Institutes are the United Front’s most well-known overseas outreach program,” Helen Raleigh, author of “Backlash: How China’s Aggression Has Backfired,” told the DCNF.

“Confucius Institutes have been noted to present students with only the CCP-sanctioned version of Chinese history, which omits the CCP’s human rights violations, and Chinese teachers at Confucius Institutes are all thoroughly vetted by Beijing,” Raleigh said.

In total, about 10 organizations that appear to have been headed by CCP members or alleged UFWD front members financially sponsored TCP, the DCNF determined. These organizations paid as much as $50,000 to sponsor events hosted by the multimedia outlet, according to various flyers.

Youhe Invest — whose website identifies its chairman Su Jie as a member of the CCP and CPPCC — is listed on TCP’s website as a sponsor of past events. Likewise, the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) sponsored a TCP screening of a documentary on “the history and evolution of Afro-Chinese relations in America” in 2021.

CUSEF is a Hong Kong-based nonprofit registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act that is involved in UFWD “influence operations,” according to USCC.

Several companies run by individuals from CUSEF’s leadership have also sponsored TCP, such as Wisdom Valley — whose founding director, Victor Fung, is listed as CUSEF’s vice chairman — and Value Partners — whose co-chairman, Cheah Cheng Hye, is one of CUSEF’s “counsellors.”

Rep. Smith told the DCNF that once Republicans take control of the House it will become a priority to investigate Chinese influence operations.

“Beyond national security concerns, we know that CCP agents often target the Chinese diaspora in the United States,” Smith said. “We must help defend our fellow citizens and lawful permanent residents from pressure — and in many cases, transnational repression up to and including assassination attempts — by the Chinese Communist Party.”

AUTHOR

PHILIP LENCZYCKI

Investigative reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: EXCLUSIVE: CIA Director’s Former Think Tank Hired Experts From Nonprofits Controlled By Chinese Spy Agencies

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

CIA Director’s Former Think Tank Introduced Congressional Staffers To Experts Who Worked For Chinese Spy Fronts

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  • The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace introduced congressional staffers to at least 10 individuals who worked for Chinese intelligence front groups during a 2019 sponsored trip to China while current CIA Director William Burns was the nonprofit’s president, the Daily Caller News Foundation determined after reviewing author Alex Joske’s book, “Spies and Lies.”
  • Since at least the 1980s, Chinese spies have impersonated scholars aiming to influence U.S. nonprofits and policymakers, Joske found.
  • “A lot of the key scholars and other figures involved in U.S.-China relations on the Chinese side have these sorts of relationships,” Joske told the DCNF.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace introduced congressional staffers to at least 10 individuals who worked for Chinese intelligence front groups during a 2019 trip to China while current CIA Director William Burns served as the nonprofit’s president, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

During the week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to Beijing, a bipartisan group of congressional staffers from the offices of various representatives — including Connecticut Democratic Rep. Jim Himes and former North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows — met with Chinese government officials, journalists, academics and policy experts, according to the trip’s itinerary. Yet, at least 10 of the Chinese individuals worked for front groups controlled by Chinese spy agencies, such as the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the International Liaison Department (ILD) and the intel arm of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the DCNF determined.

The congressional staffers participated in a number of discussions with undisclosed Chinese intelligence front group members, such as a Nov. 6 “pre-dinner dialogue” concerning “Chinese perspectives on U.S.-China policy challenges,” which included Ding Yifan, a member of the MSS-controlled Institute of World Development Studies.

PLA’s Second Intelligence Department carries out military intelligence operations, while the ILD focuses on political intelligence and the MSS serves as China’s equivalent of the CIA, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The DCNF was able to identify some of the individuals who participated in Carnegie’s 2019 trip as being tied to Chinese intelligence agency front groups by cross-referencing the itinerary with the research of several prominent Chinese intelligence specialists, including former CIA analyst Peter Mattis and Alex Joske, a former analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Joske’s new book, “Spies and Lies,” details how, since the 1980s, Chinese intelligence operatives co-opted or established various nonprofits and impersonated scholars with the goal of luring prominent Western think tanks, such as Carnegie, into partnerships in order to influence U.S. government policies towards the communist nation.

Carnegie’s cooperation with Chinese intelligence front groups dates back to at least 2004, when, under the leadership of former think tank president Jessica Mathews, the nonprofit launched a joint program with the MSS-controlled China Reform Forum, according to Joske’s research. More than a decade later, Carnegie co-hosted the 2019 congressional staffer trip, which occurred while current CIA Director William Burns served as the think tank’s president.

“A lot of the key scholars and other figures involved in U.S.-China relations on the Chinese side have these sorts of relationships,” Joske told the DCNF.

The six day trip, which was co-hosted by Carnegie and the Aspen Institute, became a flashpoint during Burns’ 2021 confirmation hearings. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio pressed Burns about Carnegie’s ties to a Chinese government-backed group as well as the all-expenses-paid trip that brought 11 congressional staffers to Beijing in 2019.

Burns told Rubio the trip was meant “to provide congressional staff members with an opportunity to engage directly with Chinese counterparts and to express their concerns about Chinese actions and malign behavior quite directly.”

However, the DCNF previously reported congressional staffers were also introduced to the president of a CCP-affiliated front group called the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). In 2020, the U.S. State Department designated CPAFFC as a foreign mission seeking to “malignly” influence American leaders.

Additionally, the DCNF has identified at least 10 individuals listed on the trip’s itinerary who worked for nonprofits controlled by Chinese intelligence agencies. At least three of these individuals were simultaneously working for Chinese intelligence front groups while employed by Carnegie, the DCNF found. Another two Carnegie policy experts who participated in the trip formerly worked for Chinese intelligence fronts.

During the trip, congressional staffers visited Carnegie’s center at Tsinghua University, where they encountered at least three experts who’d worked for intelligence front groups, the DCNF determined.

One of these experts who participated in the visit was Li Bin, a Carnegie nuclear policy fellow, who spoke to congressional staffers about North Korea’s “nuclear threat.” Li Bin is a member of the CCP and a PLA intelligence front group, the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies (CFISS), according to the group’s website.

A second individual, Cheng Xiaohe, who Carnegie employed as an international relations expert, had previously worked for the MSS front group, the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), by Carnegie’s own admission.

The third individual, Yang Wenjing, worked as the chief of U.S. policy at CICIR. While Carnegie did not employ Yang Wejing, Carnegie had featured her as a speaker during events in 2017 and 2018 and continued to feature her at events afterwards.

Similarly, at another point during the trip, Carnegie introduced staffers to Carnegie-Tsinghua advisory council member, Wang Jisi, who is also a CCP member, for a “roundtable discussion.”

Wang has a “very close relationship with the Ministry of State Security,” Joske told the DCNF. Wang has since 2000 also served as director of the China Reform Forum, which Joske’s book identifies as an MSS-controlled front group.

Wang has also worked for at least four other intelligence fronts, including the China International Cultural Exchange Center (CICEC) and another MSS front called the China Institute of Strategy and Management (CISM), the DCNF found.

Carnegie, Burns, Wang and the CIA did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

With Republicans preparing to take control of the House, lawmakers are once again scrutinizing Burns’ time at Carnegie and the group’s deep and enduring relationships with Chinese academics, policy experts and government officials.

“The amount of CCP infiltration at Carnegie shows that Director Burns was aware and intentionally concealed it from the American people, or he was grossly incompetent,” Texas Republican Rep. Lance Gooden told the DCNF in September. “Anyone who enables our top adversary is not fit to lead a U.S. intelligence agency.”

AUTHOR

PHILIP LENCZYCKI

Daily Caller News Foundation investigative reporter, political journalist, and China watcher. Twitter: @LenczyckiPhilip

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Welcome to The Red House

2021 was one of the worst years ever for religious freedom in China

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

CEO Allegedly Conspired To Store California Election Workers’ Data In China

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Eugene Yu, whom police arrested last week for alleged data theft, allegedly conspired to store California election workers’ personal data in China during the 2020 presidential election, prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday.

Yu’s firm, Konnech, entered a contract with Los Angeles County to provide secure poll worker management software for the 2020 election that stipulated all employee payroll and scheduling data collected by the company should be stored in the U.S., according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. Despite multiple statements to The New York Times denying Yu or Konnech stored data in China, new court filings indicate that Yu deliberately collaborated with unknown conspirators to transfer the personal information of hundreds of Los Angeles election workers through third party contractors based in China.

Luis Nabergoi, Konnech’s project manager for the Los Angeles operation, sent a memo via Chinese messaging app DingTalk around Aug. 18 confirming Chinese contractors exercised so-called “superadministration” privileges for all clients of Konnech’s PollChief software, the court documents state. Nabergoi called the situation a “huge security issue.”

The Chinese company with whom Konnech contracted was responsible for developing troubleshooting software, according to the NYT.

On Oct. 4, Nabergoi sent an internal email informing Konnech employees the company was “moving t0 a new stage in the company maturity and we need to ensure the security, privacy and confidentiality or [sic] our client data,” the court documents state.

The documents also included allegations the company embezzled at least $2,645,000 by violating the company’s contract with Los Angeles County.

Authorities arrested Yu in Michigan on Oct. 5 following initial allegations that Konnech stored the personal information of Los Angeles election workers in servers located in China, extraditing him to California afterward.

“Data breaches are an ongoing threat to our digital way of life. When we entrust a company to hold our confidential data, they must be willing and able to protect our personal identifying information from theft,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.

Gascón said the event could constitute a “cyber intrusion” in U.S. elections.

None of the data appeared to have been sold, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, intelligence services operating on behalf of Beijing could obtain access to information from private companies housed in Chinese servers, according to a 2020 Foreign Policy report.

None of Konnech’s actions had an effect on vote counting or altered election results, according to the L.A. District Attorney’s office.

True The Vote, a election integrity organization, previously reported concerns about Yu and Konnech to the FBI in 2021 after claiming their researchers had accessed Konnech data from servers in China, according to the NYT. Los Angeles County authorities began investigating Konnech after receiving a tip from Gregg Phillips, a True The Vote associate.

After Yu’s arrest, Konnech distributed a letter to clients claiming the company “never hosted your data or system in servers outside of the United States,” the NYT reported.

The district attorney declined to say whether other individuals were under investigation, the NYT reported.

Konnech did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICEL: Michigan Announces $715 Million Contract With Chinese Communist Party-Affiliated Company

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

VIDEO: Is Biden Going Soft on China?

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The first few weeks of Biden’s presidency has seen the rollback of several Trump-era policies that put pressure on China. But while Chinese leaders may feel relieved, the United States has received nothing in return for the gradual easing of tensions.

President Biden consistently refers to China as a “competitor.” This language is quite a bit softer than former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s labeling of the Chinese Communist Party as “the central threat of our times.” Gordon Chang notes that it is difficult to compete when we know our competitor is cheating. When President Biden talks about competing with China on technological advancements, “That sounds fine, but China steals somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 billion worth of U.S. IP each year,” Chang said on Washington Watch. China’s persistent theft of intellectual property makes it impossible to compete fairly with.

Several of President Biden’s early executive orders have directly benefitted China, while exposing Americans to risk. Chang cites several concerning examples. “President Trump, with an executive order, barred China from supplying equipment to our electricity grid. In other words, that prevents China from committing sabotage. And that’s not a theoretical concern when it comes to the grid. Yet Biden, in an executive order, repealed that Trump era protection.”

President Biden has also failed to take the spread of Chinese propaganda on America’s college campuses seriously. There are around 60 Confucius Institutes still operating in American colleges, and though they purport to simply teach Chinese language and culture, they are not to be taken lightly. Chang points out that Confucius Institutes are “run by the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which is this part of the Communist Party which tries to subvert foreign countries. So really what we’ve got here is propaganda on our campuses.” The U.S. does not develop propaganda programs in Chinese colleges, so why should we let them do so here?

The day before the Trump administration left office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took perhaps the administration’s most significance stand against China by officially calling the Chinese’s government abuses of Uyghur Muslims genocide. Secretary of State Antony Blinken initially affirmed Pompeo’s finding that the Chinese government was committing genocide in Xinjiang. However, we have yet to see the administration indicate it has plans to do anything about it. Chang says, “when you talk about genocide, we’ve got to remember that the U.S. is a party to the Genocide Convention of 1948, which requires every country to stop genocide. And I don’t hear any of that language from the Biden team so far.”

Genocides always loom large in history. If the administration does not consider China’s genocide to be a priority now, future history texts books will ask why. In America’s dealings with China, history will remember how the Biden administration reacted to China’s heinous human rights abuses.

Ultimately, the threat that China poses to the free world makes it more than a competitor. As the world’s second most powerful country, China has been flexing its diplomatic and political muscles at the United Nations and the World Health Organization to the detriment of democratic societies. The Chinese government is guilty of an ongoing genocide of a religious and ethnic minority. Not to mention China’s imprisonment of political dissidents, crackdown on churches, and mass surveillance of its people.

As China grows more powerful, it has the capacity to compel others to do what it wants. That is worrying not because China is a competitor, but because the Chinese government has no respect for democracy, rule of law, or basic human rights. Smaller countries with less resources struggle to stand up to China. If the United States does not lead the way in doing so, no one will.

COLUMN BY

Arielle Del Turco

Assistant Director of the Center for Religious Liberty

Arielle Del Turco serves as Assistant Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, where she is responsible for international religious freedom policy and advocacy efforts. Through research and analysis of international religious freedom matters, she helps craft effective policy solutions along with coordinating FRC’s advocacy on this issue. Arielle’s work has appeared in the USA Today, National Review, Jerusalem Post, Washington Examiner, CBN News, The Federalist, The National Interest, Christian Post, The American Conservative, Daily Signal, and Townhall. She has conducted a number of media interviews on international religious freedom, and has herself interviewed key advocates and victims of persecution. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics and History from Regent University, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in International Relations.

EDITORS NOTE: This FRC-Action column with video is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Beijing ☭ Biden Quietly Revokes Trump’s Ban On Chinese Communist Propaganda In Schools

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CCP-owned dementia-riddled puppet in the White House.

Biden Quietly Revokes Trump’s Ban On Chinese Communist Propaganda In Schools.

By: The National Pulse, February 8, 2021:

President Biden quietly revoked a Trump-era policy that compelled primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions to disclose their relationships with Chinese Communist Party-funded Confucius Institutes.

The policy – “Establishing Requirement for Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certified Schools to Disclose Agreements with Confucius Institutes and Classrooms” – was proposed on December 31st, 2020.

“The rule would require colleges and K-12 schools that are certified to have foreign exchange programs to disclose any contracts, partnerships, or financial transactions from Confucius Institutes or Classrooms (the Confucius Institute offshoot for primary and secondary schools),” Axios noted.

And the Trump administration’s proposals were well-warranted: the well-funded, controversial operations disguise themselves as language and culture initiative despite being replete with “undisclosed ties to Chinese institutions, and conflicted loyalties,” Chinese state propaganda, and intellectual property theft, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Records from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, however, reveal that Biden nixed the policy on January 26 – less than a week into his White House tenure.

“A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that the policy was rescinded,” Campus Reform noted.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden’s ☭ CIA Pick Was President Of Think Tank That Took Millions From Chinese Communist Party Affiliates

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