The Biden administration is facing a backlash after it was revealed on social media that senior government officials were scheduled to participate in a two-day forum hosted by a group with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns will be the keynote speaker at the 5th U.S.-China Hong Kong Forum, which begins Friday and is sponsored by the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), according to the group's website. .
Burns' decision to speak there has drawn criticism from China experts, including one who told Fox News Digital that Burns is “justifying China's negative impact.” .
“Both Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping refer to the united front as a 'magic weapon' that allows the Chinese Communist Party to use America's voice to advance its interests in the United States and is extremely It's deceptive,” said Michael Sobolik, author of “Counting China's Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance.”
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US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns speaks at forum with deep ties to Chinese Communist Party (Fox News)
“If you want to understand the Chinese government’s long game, look no further. Sobolik, a senior fellow for Indo-Pacific studies at the U.S. Foreign Policy Council, said. Added.
“By attending this meeting, Ambassador Burns is legitimizing the negative influence of the Chinese government. He should denounce and blunt it.”
“This is a particularly bad decision on the eve of the scheduled sentencing of 47 Hong Kong democracy activists,” said Jonathan Stivers, US director of the Hong Kong Freedom Caucus. Posted in X. “The State Department should impose sanctions on Hong Kong officials who do not participate in the meeting.”
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Fox News Digital has previously reported on CUSEF's ties to the Chinese Communist Party and its chairman, James Chow, who “joined CUSEF in 2018” before becoming the group's chairman in 2023. The company said it was “working together with the founder, Tetsukazu Higashi.'' According to his CUSEF biography.
Fox News Digital has written extensively about Dong Zhehua, who served as vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an important part of the Chinese Communist Party's united front system that works to advance the Chinese Communist Party's interests at home and abroad. reported on. .
Dong Zhehua, vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said: (YouTube/Screenshot)
One report describes how Julia Wilson black public relations consultantmore than $1 million was paid by Chihua's CUSEF to help the Chinese government learn about Black Americans and influence historically Black colleges and universities and Black leaders.
“In 2009, the former chief executive of Hong Kong [Tung Chee-hwa] “I visited my office with staff from the China-America Exchange Foundation, and they wanted to know how we had a black president,” Wilson, whose office is across the street from the White House, told college students during a 2017 presentation. . “They said, 'We don't know anything about black people.' Could you please write a white paper and share it? How do black people have enough power to vote a black man for president?” Did we get it?’ So they really needed an overview of our history. who are we? Who are African Americans? ”
CUSEF's latest annual report is Published in July, reveals how “independent nonprofit, non-governmental foundations” are heavily influenced by the Chinese Communist Party, from advisors and partners to donors.
One of CUSEF's top partners is the People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. The association was previously described as a “Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting local governments” and “seeks to directly and maliciously influence and promote state and local leaders.” China’s Global Challenges,” according to a 2022 report from the Biden administration’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Another partner in the CUSEF annual report is the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs plays an important role in the Chinese Communist Party's machinery, working regularly with major branches and leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. According to the website. Other partners include top Chinese and American universities such as Princeton University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, and Columbia University. Sidwell Friends School, an elite private school attended by former President Barack Obama's daughter and President Biden's grandchildren, was also on the list.
In addition to Burns, several other former U.S. officials are expected to participate in the forum, including former President Obama's ambassador to China Max Baucus and Rick Waters, the Biden administration's top China policy official at the State Department. .
Ambassador to China Max Baucus (center) watches as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (left) introduces a delegation to Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on January 27, 2016. (Andy Wong/AFP via Getty Images)
Baucus, a longtime friend of Biden and a former colleague in the Senate, has extensive ties to China through his institute, which Fox News Digital previously reported is linked to the Chinese Communist Party. The party received funding from a Chinese company whose founder had close ties to the party, and was recognized as the party's “national excellence party.” His institute's study abroad program in China is also nearly fully funded, according to CUSEF's website.
Baucus also boasted that he had met with Hunter Biden multiple times and had a “very good relationship” with Baucus and his Chinese business associates, according to emails previously reported by Fox News Digital. Ta.
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Several of CUSEF's donors, including Chinese billionaires, also have ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Wang Jianlin, the billionaire chairman of Wanda Group, is a member of the Chinese Communist Party and served as a member of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He has also been a member of the Seisaku-kyo for many years. Another donor listed in CUSEF's annual report is Bernard Chan, who served as a Hong Kong delegate for 15 years to the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, the highest organ of state power in the Chinese Communist Party. – Appears to be the same person as Mr. Chan. .
Several members of the CUSEF board also have ties to the Chinese Communist Party, including Peter Wu, currently a member of the 11th CPPCC Standing Committee. Liu Changle, the founder of China's state-run Phoenix Satellite Television, also has ties to several Chinese Communist Party parties. According to the CUSEF website.
The White House, State Department and CUSEF did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
FOX News' Jessica Chasmer contributed reporting.
