A top adviser to embattled New York City Police Commissioner Edward Cabana has ties to a mysterious group that takes orders from the Chinese Communist Party, The Washington Post has learned.
According to sources, Lin Guian was “promoted” by Mayor Eric Adams to the senior position of deputy director of the Police Commissioner's Liaison Office despite his limited police experience.
According to records reviewed by The Washington Post, Lin, 49, served for 12 years as vice president of a nonprofit organization with ties to the United Front, a network of community groups and school associations controlled by China's Communist Party.
He has also been photographed attending events with and receiving patronage from prominent members of United Front groups.
Funded and controlled by the Chinese central government and overseen by the United Front Work Department, the United Front's role is to spread Chinese propaganda in the United States.
The arrest last week of Linda Sun, a former aide to Gov. Kathy Hawkle, has brought scrutiny of Lin's ties amid growing perceptions of Chinese influence in New York.
Sun has been charged with 10 counts including money laundering, visa fraud and conspiring to act as a foreign agent of China. He has pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court.
Mr Lynn, described by insiders as Mr Cavan's “right-hand man”, is himself under pressure after federal agents raided his home last week.
The reasons for the searches have not been made public, but sources said the investigation that triggered them involved “undue” influence from China and Turkey on the NYPD.
Lin is also close to Winnie Greco, Adams' controversial aide who serves as special adviser and director for Asia.
The Washington Post reported in June that Mr. Greco was the subject of a federal investigation into private emails and records of a trip to China organized by Mr. Adams when he was Brooklyn borough president.
Greco's Bronx home was also searched by the FBI in February. Greco has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with anything at this time. Greco's office did not respond to The Washington Post's request for comment.
Lin also attended an event with Greco organised by the United Front Group, which works with the Chinese consulate in New York, according to Chinese-language media.
Lin also received an award from the Dongguan Association, but, as The Washington Post previously reported, the Chinese-funded group listed Greco as a “consultant” from 2011 to 2023. Greco denied any involvement with the group and said he had asked for his name to be removed from its website.
Shortly after Lin joined the NYPD in a non-uniformed, office-based role in 2022, Greco suddenly began visiting the police commissioner's office more frequently, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Lin’s first role was as associate director of the Community Ambassador Program, but he was quickly promoted.
According to reports, he will join the Patrol Chief's Office in early 2023, again in a “triple jump” promotion to his current role, making him the first Chinese American deputy chief in NYPD history.
In a post announcing his new role last year, he said: NYPD News The report described Lin as “one of the highest-ranking Asian American civilians in the NYPD” and serving as a “messenger” between community groups and top police officials.
Despite his lofty position, Lin has spent most of his career in the hospitality industry.
From 2004 to 2016, he worked as an assistant manager at the Scarsdale Golf Club and owns a Chinese restaurant in the Bronx called China Star, which he registered in 1997, four years after coming to the United States from China, according to public records and Chinese-language media reports.
Lin's police experience is limited to auxiliary or volunteer work and a three-year stint as counsel to the White Plains Public Safety Commission, beginning in 2018, officials said.
A call seeking comment from White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong was not returned Tuesday.
Lin's involvement with Chinese American organizations began soon after he arrived in the United States as a student in 1993. He served as vice president of the Fujian Changle Nanxiang East American Philanthropy Association, a nonprofit organization founded in New York in 1993.
He served in the position for 12 years, from 1994 to 2006, sources told The Washington Post.
The group's functions are unclear, but it is linked to a network of groups affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party-controlled United Front. Lin remains close to the group and was photographed wearing a jacket with a police badge at one of their meetings in January 2023.
The chairman of the group at that time was Liu Aihua, The United Front Group, the Fujian Association of America That's according to ChinaScope, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that analyzes Chinese-language media.
September 18, 2023, shortly after the NYPD promotion Lin gave a speech The event took place at a Chinese restaurant in Manhattan during a celebration of China's National Day, organized by the alumni association of Lianjiang No. 2 High School in Fujian Province, China.
According to the CIA, such Chinese school “alumni associations” have been identified as united front organizations working for the Chinese Communist Party.
The event was attended by a large number of Chinese government representatives, including Chinese Consul Xing Yulin.
Less than a year later, Fujian Tangtou Association In Flushing, Lin, along with two other NYPD officers, were presented with a plaque in recognition of their “services to the community.”
“Lin Guian, The deputy director of the Community Affairs and Outreach Office, according to a SinoVision video of the event, said that during his one year in office, many Chinese officers have been added to various divisions of the city police, including the Crime Prevention Division. “The Crime Prevention Division went from not having a single Chinese officer in it to now having 10 Chinese officers who speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and other dialects.”
“They also welcome more Chinese people to join the police force.”
In November 2023, members of the Fujian Tangtou Group, the Lianjiang School Group and the Dongguan Association visited San Francisco to welcome President Xi Jinping to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
These groups clashed According to reports, Xi met with pro-democracy activists protesting against him outside the St. Regis Hotel where he was staying.
The ties to Lin are sure to put further pressure on Cabán after federal investigators last week also searched other key City Hall staff, and calls for him to resign have grown louder.
The NYPD's Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information did not respond to a request for comment Monday about its relationship with Lin.
A spokesman for Mayor Adams did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
