The long shadow of Chinese foreign influence – Latest News
Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia till final week, was pressured to resign, pleading guilty to federal fees of appearing as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China.
She beforehand co-ran a pretend information website dressed up as a neighborhood useful resource for Chinese Americans.
They copy-pasted propaganda from Beijing handlers — together with cheerful denials of atrocities — and bragged in regards to the clicks.
It was virtually comically simple: Propaganda in, influence out.
That’s the genius — and the gall — of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) playbook.
Former mayor of Arcadia Eileen Wang acted as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China. AP
They don’t need to hack voting machines once they can merely form what voters learn and consider in California’s San Gabriel Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, or wherever else they will attain.
Chinese immigrant communities, usually tight-knit and linguistically insular, change into prime targets for “ethnic media” that look native however march to Beijing’s tune. Gullible populations are exploited as a result of they trust retailers and leaders who communicate their language and declare to characterize their pursuits.
When these retailers are secretly directed by a foreign authoritarian regime, trust erodes, one article at a time.
The legal tripwire in these instances is the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Passed in 1938 to reveal Nazi propagandists, FARA calls for that anybody appearing on behalf of a foreign authorities register with the Department of Justice, disclose their funding, and label their supplies as foreign-directed. It’s a transparency law, not a ban.
But the CCP and its United Front Work Department (UFWD) deal with FARA like elective paperwork. Why register when you may launder influence via romantic companions, neighborhood web sites, and sympathetic officers?
The Eileen Wang case completely illustrates how this influence works on the ground. Propaganda doesn’t simply float within the ether; it molds perceptions.
Readers take up Beijing’s model of Taiwan, human rights, US-China relations, Israel, Hamas, Gaza, Iran, Trump, Republicans in Congress — which subtly shifts voter priorities.
Sign up for the California Morning Report e-newsletter
California’s high information, sports activities and leisure delivered to your inbox day-after-day.
Thanks for signing up!
That, of course, impacts elections — quietly boosting candidates who appear “culturally sensitive” whereas marginalizing China critics.
Once these candidates win native workplace, insurance policies comply with: zoning selections, faculty curricula, sister-city agreements, even resolutions on worldwide points.
A mayor doesn’t control foreign coverage, however she or he can help normalize CCP speaking factors, and open doorways for additional cultivation.
Over time, public trust in native establishments frays. If your elected mayor was secretly taking direction from Beijing, who else is likely to be?
Every Chinese American politician immediately faces further and unwarranted suspicion, even the loyal ones. That’s the actual harm: Generalized mistrust that toxins neighborhood cohesion.
These operations thrive as a result of native races and neighborhood media fly beneath the radar. A metropolis council seat in Arcadia attracts a fraction of the scrutiny of a congressional race. That’s the place the CCP plants seeds — and reaps coverage concessions or perceptual shifts years later.
The slight chill you need to really feel isn’t paranoia; it’s sample recognition.
Neville Roy Singham (a US businessman residing in Shanghai) has deep ideological and financial ties to the CCP. He backs a web of far-left teams (People’s Forum, ANSWER Coalition, International People’s Assembly, Code Pink) that organized “Shut It Down for Palestine” (SID4P) protests, No Kings marches, campus encampments, and infrastructure disruptions after the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas terror assault.
Groups obtained tens of millions from Singham-linked donors and promoted anti-Israel, anti-US messaging that mirrors Beijing’s traces.
The CCP and UFWD exploit real activism and leftist networks somewhat than inventing them.
They weaken US world standing and alliances. They construct influence within the deloping world, and the Muslim world. They divide Western societies by way of polarization.
Prosecutions like Wang’s are huge wins, sure. But additionally they show the vulnerabilities in native politics and diaspora media stay huge open. Until vetting tightens, Beijing will keep treating America’s officers like gentle targets.
Richie Greenberg is a political commentator based mostly in San Francisco.
Download The California Post App, comply with us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up right here!
California Post App: Download right here!
Home supply: Sign up right here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up right here!
