by Philip Lenczycki
Republican lawmakers called on the Biden administration to launch an investigation into a Chinese civic association linked to a New York Democratic congresswoman on Wednesday, according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana, Carlos Gimenez of Florida, Robert Wittman of Virginia and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate the New York-based Henan Association Of Eastern America (HAEA) as a “foreign mission,” citing “its recently reported leading role in Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-led influence operations against American officials,” according to the letter. The lawmakers also asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate HAEA’s current and former leaders, including New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng, who was listed as the group’s “deputy chairwoman” before she launched her congressional campaign in 2012.
“A future Democrat Congresswoman opened the door to the CCP with the help of the United Front, the CCP’s overseas influence operations,” Banks, a member of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told the DCNF. “Groups like the Henan Association can’t be allowed to wage political warfare against the U.S. on our soil any longer.”
“The State Department must designate the Henan Association as a foreign mission,” the letter reads. “Under the Foreign Missions Act, an organization should be designated by the State Department as a ‘foreign mission’ if the entity is involved in the activities of a foreign government or is ‘substantially owned or effectively controlled’ by a foreign government.”
Federal prosecutors recently indicted Meng’s former congressional campaign director, Linda Sun, and her husband, Chris Hu, for allegedly acting as unregistered agents of China while Sun worked for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Wall Street Journal subsequently reported Sun had met the “heads of key groups identifiable in the indictment as being United Front-linked,” naming HAEA and another New York Chinese association.
The so-called “United Front” strategy is a “unique blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations that the CCP uses to shape its political environment, including to influence other countries’ policy toward the PRC and to gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to a 2023 report from the House Select Committee on the CCP.
United Front work is conducted “by an extensive and well-documented network of organizations operating in parallel to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) foreign ministry and intelligence services that seeks to influence universities, think tanks, civic groups, other prominent individuals and institutions, and public opinion broadly,” that House committee’s report states.
“Sun allegedly used the Henan Association as her intermediary in conducting official business with, and receiving direction from, PRC officials,” the lawmakers stated in their letter. “A Henan leader is named as one of the unindicted co-conspirators in Sun’s agent activities.”
The WSJ previously identified HAEA’s president, Zhang Fuyin, as one of Sun’s two alleged co-conspirators. Meng’s longtime congressional staffer Sydney Li, who is HAEA’s deputy chairman, has also interacted with CCP official and Chinese intelligence personnel, the WSJ reported.
The WSJ reported that during a 2019 China trip, Li hand-delivered a letter from Meng to a CCP intel official alongside Zhang, and the DCNF identified four more instances in which Li gave letters on behalf of Meng to either CCP intel or Propaganda Department personnel.
The lawmakers’ letter also asked the State Department to “review all hometown associations similarly tied to United Front activities for potential designation as foreign missions.”
“Outposts of our Chinese enemy should not be allowed in our country, but if they must be here we must require them to register,” Gordon Chang, China expert and author, told the DCNF.
The letter sent Wednesday also presses the DOJ to “investigate all current and former leaders and associates of the Henan Association for potential FARA violations and prosecute any offenders accordingly.”
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) “requires certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities or other activities specified under the statute to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities,” according to the DOJ.
Between 2008 and 2012, HAEA identified Meng as its “deputy chairwoman,” but began listing her as “honorary chairwoman” in February 2012, the month before she launched her congressional campaign, the DCNF reported. Meng’s photo was prominently displayed at the top of HAEA’s homepage for over a decade beside the organization’s chairman and president until the entire website was deleted on Sept. 26, following DCNF reports on her years-long involvement with the group.
The WSJ recently reported Meng denied ever having held any official position with HAEA, claiming she only held an “honorary title,” despite a 2008 video in which she introduced herself as HAEA’s “deputy chairwoman.”
WATCH@RepGraceMeng told @WSJ she had no official role w/ Henan Association of Eastern American (HAEA), claims it was “honorary title”
Meng also claims she’s “no recollection” of 2008 video where she identifies herself as HAEA’s “deputy chairwoman” to which I’ve added subtitles pic.twitter.com/LOIlh4JbtK— Philip Lenczycki 蔡岳 (@LenczyckiPhilip) October 23, 2024
Meng has participated in more than a dozen events alongside HAEA leaders welcoming various CCP delegations to New York, during which she’s toasted CCP intel personnel, awarded congressional commendations to Communist Party leaders and received several gifts, the DCNF reported, with perhaps the most recent instance occurring in March 2024.
These interactions extend back at least as far as 2008, the DCNF found, and include Meng’s participation in a December 2008 welcome banquet in Queens, New York for the chairman of the All-China Federation Of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC), who Meng referred to as “our chairman” and praised for his “leadership,” footage shows.
The DOJ has characterized ACFROC as an “agency” of a Chinese intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD).
🚨WATCH @RepGraceMeng praise CCP intel agency head🚨by @DailyCaller
“…specially welcoming our Chairman Lin! … grateful to Chairman Lin for taking care of us — really need your leadership!”
Any congress members working w/ CCP United Front “must resign” – @RepJimBanks pic.twitter.com/x9cURKwuiA
— Philip Lenczycki 蔡岳 (@LenczyckiPhilip) September 9, 2024
The DOJ also alleges that ACFROC hired Meng’s former campaign director, Sun, as its “committee member” in September 2019.
Multiple HAEA leaders, including its president, Zhang, as well as the organization’s chairman are ACFROC members, the DCNF discovered.
“The Biden-Harris DOJ must force foreign influence groups to register to FARA, and groups like the Henan Association should be classified as foreign missions of China,” Banks told the DCNF.
Meng and HAEA did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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Philip Lenczycki is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
