Since Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) launched his first gubernatorial bid in 2018, people tied to Chinese Communist Party affect operations and employed by Beijing-linked firms have poured a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} into the marketing campaign accounts of California Democrats, together with to Newsom and his key allies, a Washington Examiner evaluate of federal, state, and municipal data has discovered.
Some have characterised Newsom’s relationship with China as prioritizing elevated financial cooperation and diplomatic overtures over confrontation. The governor largely avoids direct criticism of the Chinese authorities and, as a consequence, attracts criticism for a too-cozy relationship with China.
A big portion of the China-linked cash that flowed into California beneath Newsom got here from Dominic Ng and Simon Pang, a pair of Southern California bankers reportedly linked to the United Front Work Department, a world community of CCP loyalists that exerts affect and conducts operations on behalf of the Chinese authorities.
The duo of monetary executives has, since 2018, given roughly $400,000 to federal committees managed by California Democrats, roughly $40,000 to Los Angeles politicians, and roughly $320,000 to state-level Democratic campaigns throughout that very same interval. Among the state contributions was $18,000 put aside for Rob Bonta, Newsom’s lawyer common, $10,600 for his lieutenant governor, $5,000 for his treasurer, and $42,500 for the governor himself.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) met with President Xi Jinping and different high-level Chinese officers on Oct. 25, 2023. | (Office of the Governor of California through AP, File)
East West Bank, the monetary establishment that Ng leads, has acknowledged that the banker as soon as held a management function within the China Overseas Exchange Association, a gaggle Congress’s U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission deemed to be an arm of the UFWD.
A Daily Caller News Foundation report claimed that inner paperwork recognized Ng as the group’s “executive director,” whereas a financial institution spokeswoman beforehand instructed the Washington Examiner that “standing council member” was a extra correct translation of his function, downplaying his involvement.
The Daily Caller News Foundation additionally reported that Ng had met with a number of alleged UFWD operatives, together with Chinese authorities officers. East West Bank denies that Ng knowingly related with UFWD representatives.
Pang, for his half, served as the “Southern California coordinator” for the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which the State Department deemed a UFWD affiliate in 2020. The U.S.-Sino Friendship Association, a nonprofit group headed by Pang, has led at the very least 9 delegations of U.S. lawmakers to China to fulfill with CPAFFC officers, in response to Chinese authorities bulletins.
The State Department has claimed that the Chinese authorities duties CPAFFC with “co-opting subnational governments.”
As cash from Pang and others has boosted Californian Democrats, Newsom has taken criticism from throughout the political spectrum over his hesitance to critique China’s human rights violations.
The governor admitted, as an illustration, that he didn’t confront Chinese President Xi Jinping on his repression of the Uyghur individuals and pro-democracy advocates throughout a weeklong journey he took to China in October 2023.
Democratic and Republican administrations have each categorized China’s remedy of Uyghurs as a genocide. Rather than criticize China, Newsom highlighted his concern for local weather change throughout his go to and expressed a higher want for cooperation between Sacramento and Beijing.
A coalition of 60 human rights teams, a lot of that are sometimes left-of-center, issued a joint assertion condemning the governor for his choice to “explicitly turn away from engaging on critical human rights issues.”
A gaggle of 11 Californian Republicans in Congress, led by Rep. Young Kim (R-CA), hit Newsom alongside related strains, accusing the governor of turning a “blind eye” to the CCP’s genocide, authoritarianism, and function within the fentanyl disaster. The lawmakers referred to as the journey a “disservice and a slap on the face” and urged Newsom to cancel it. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) referred to as on Newsom to “speak very clearly against the repression of the Hong Kong people,” lamenting that failure to take action would make “Chinese repression” seem “accepted” on the worldwide stage.
Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) speaks on the Capitol in Washington on April 15, 2024. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Later in 2023, Newsom elicited additional criticism by internet hosting Xi in San Francisco for that yr’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Newsom admitted that San Francisco timed a large cleanup effort, clearing out plenty of homeless encampments and rubbish, to coincide with the Chinese president’s arrival. Conservative commentators attacked Newsom for seemingly prioritizing impressing Chinese dignitaries over the well-being of his constituents.
“Why will they clean up for China but not Californians?” the National Republican Congressional Committee quipped.
Newsom defended himself by arguing that, whereas beautification efforts had been ramped as much as welcome the Chinese delegation, the efforts themselves had been long-running.
While Newsom touts his want for elevated financial cooperation with China, senior workers at Chinese corporations working within the United States, amongst these poised to profit most from elevated financial integration, have flooded California Democrats with marketing campaign donations.
State, native, and Federal Democrats in California have acquired nicely over $200,000 from high staffers on the following firms: BYD, Baidu, Alibaba, ByteDance, Huawei, Tencent, DeHeng, and Wanxiang Corporation. All had been singled out by lawmakers and the press for his or her purported collaborative relationships with the CCP, as nicely as people working for media retailers allegedly working with the Chinese authorities to disseminate propaganda.
BYD, a Chinese electrical automobile producer that the Atlantic Council has described as “essentially at the service of the CCP,” was one of the vital prolific such donors, routing over $80,000 to California Democrats, each straight and thru its executives, since 2018.
Bloomberg reported in November 2025 that the Pentagon is poised to designate BYD as a “Chinese military company,” that means that protection officers consider the corporate to be both managed by the Chinese army or enjoying a job in its military-civil fusion technique, a Chinese authorities initiative geared toward integrating business with the armed forces to enhance the People’s Liberation Army’s warfighting talents.
As it greased the palms of California Democrats, BYD expanded its business presence within the state and snagged quite a few worthwhile public contracts. In 2023, as an illustration, California licensed state and native companies to buy BYD’s electrical buses. Los Angeles has additionally awarded contracts to BYD.
BYD president Ke Li gave Newsom $50,000 throughout his 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial campaigns, data present.
Alibaba Group and Baidu, whose workers have additionally made contributions to California Democrats, are additionally slated to be designated as Chinese army firms, in response to Bloomberg.
NEW TOP DEMOCRAT ON HOUSE CCP COMMITTEE TOOK CASH FROM CHINA-LINKED DONORS
Ng, Pang, and workers of state-linked Chinese firms additionally made donations to California Republicans, although of a a lot smaller magnitude than what they routed to the state’s Democrats.
Newsom’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark.
