Congress: Americans have little idea how much the Chinese Communists have infiltrated American institutions

As the Biden administration continues its obsession with “climate change” and proper pronouns, they ignore the existential threat posed by China. Fortunately, some lawmakers recognize the threat but warn that the United States has little true awareness of the danger posed by China, nor how deep their network of espionage and influence operations runs in our country, according to the Daily Mail. 

Law Enforcement Today has previously reported on the number of Chinese “police stations” in cities across the country that are enforcement arms of the Chinese Communist Party. Now, bipartisan House China Select Committee members have released a memo outlining how the United States has failed miserably at combating China’s infiltration into the country while warning it could very well get worse. 

Lawmakers say the threat is tied into something called the “united front,” a political strategy Chinese leader Xi Jinping has referred to as his “magic weapon.” That plan is used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to push influence throughout the U.S. without the information being directly attributable to the Chinese government. 

China invests billions in the united front system every year. That group is affiliated with approximately 600 groups within the U.S., according to a 2020 Newsweek report, that all keep regular contact with the CCP. 

“United front work damages U.S. interests through legal and illegal technology transfer, surveillance of Chinese diaspora communities, promotion of favorable narratives about the PRC [People’s Republic of China] through ostensibly independent voices, and the neutralization or harassment of critics of the CCP,” the new report noted. 

“The United States has no direct analog, and the U.S. Government has struggled to counter United front work with traditional counterintelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic tools,” the report warned. 

The memo is designed to assist Americans in remaining vigilant if China’s influence operations somehow target them. 

“Through its united front work strategy, which Xi Jinping has called a ‘magic weapon,’ the Chinese Communist Party uses every tool at its disposal, whether legal or illicit, to influence the American people and interfere in democratic societies,” warned Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) in a statement. 

Ranking member Rep. Raja Khrishnamoorthi (D-Calif.) added, “An important, but little understood, aspect of the Chinese Communist Party’s misinformation, propaganda, and influence efforts both in the PRC and abroad is the CCP’s united front system,” he said. “This background memo provides information about united front activities and can be a potentially helpful guide in addressing and countering them.” 

One of the goals of united front is to assist China in taking over Taiwan, along with establishing a new global order revolving around “CCP values and interests.” 

Last month, Joe Biden met with Xi Jinping as concerns mount over China’s saber-rattling with Taiwan, increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, heightened espionage, and trade and human rights. 

The Daily Mail noted that several groups operate in the United States under the auspices of the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which reports directly to the CCP. The UFWD controls “non-governmental” groups such as academic institutions, nonprofits, and media in China.

At the same time, it oversees groups in the U.S., such as the National Association for China’s Peaceful Reunification, which operates in the Washington, D.C. area, and the Alliance for China’s Peaceful Reunification, USA. 

The memo also notes that UFWD “played a central role in formulating, implementing, and defending policies to ‘Sinicize’ China’s ethnic minorities, including the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.”  The CCP uses united front-affiliated groups to monitor and track Uyghurs, along with pushing propaganda to counter the narrative the Muslim minority Uyghurs are being maltreated. 

“In addition to promoting narratives favorable to the CCP abroad, the UWFD collects intelligence, exerts control over overseas Chinese-language media outlets, seeks to influence Chinese diaspora groups, facilitates illicit technology transfer, and interferes in politics in other countries, including by co-opting and influencing foreign academic, political, and business elites,” the memo continued. 

“The networks built by the UFWD are often viewed as prime operating grounds by the PRC’s intelligence agencies, which seek to draw on members of united front organizations to support espionage and influence operations,” the memo read. 

United front targets certain key groups to woo individuals to further its messaging; “members of China’s eight minor parties, those without political affiliation, non-CCP intellectuals, ethnic minorities, religious leaders, business leaders, and ethnic Chinese citizens living abroad.”

As Law Enforcement Today previously reported, the FBI earlier this year arrested two Chinese nationals who were suspected of running an illegal “police station” in downtown Manhattan to spy on and harass Chinese dissidents on US soil. Moreover, 44 Chinese nationals were charged by federal prosecutors with engaging in a surveillance and harassment campaign against Chinese dissidents living in the US. 

In our report, we noted there were numerous Chinese “police stations” operating in cities not only in the United States but in other Western countries as well, including Canada. An advocacy group, Safeguard Defenders, confirmed that report. 

Aside from the “police stations,” DailyMail.com previously reported there were so-called “Chinese community centers” operating in San Francisco, Houston, and Nebraska that were suspected of working in coordination with the CCP. 

More concerning is the Chinese effort to infiltrate the American educational system. According to Parents Defending Education, the Chinese have invested approximately $17 million into K-12 schools in the United States. 

The CCP has coordinated with US schools to establish “Confucius Classrooms” in certain school districts in 34 states and the Washington, DC area. The Daily Mail noted at least seven contracts still active in Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington. 

More worrisome is that the CCP has “ties to school districts near 20 U.S. military bases,” and three of the nation’s top science and technology high schools have likewise been infiltrated.