According to a Daily Caller News Foundation letter, Republican members of Congress call on federal authorities for an investigation into an alleged front group member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This person was allegedly appointed by President Joe Biden to represent U.S. interests in Asia.
The DCNF did not receive immediate comment from Ng, East West Bank and APEC officials.
Ng was an “executive director” at the China Overseas Exchange Association in 2013-2017, before taking up a similar five-year title at the China Overseas Friendship Association in 2019, where Ng is still a member, according a DCNF translation from archived membership records.
According to multiple reports by the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission, both COEA and COFA were identified as front groups of the United Front Work Department. UFWD is a CCP agency that oversees intelligence operations and influence.
The FBI letter states that communist China has created and operated front organizations in the U.S. to influence events, business leaders, and other important aspects of our country’s life.
Tiffany stated to the DCNF, “We need information about how deep the tentacles from the CCP’s United Front” campaign have penetrated our institutions.”
According to statements made on C-SPAN by Michael Swaine (East Asia program director at Quincy Institute), the U.S. will host APEC’s November 2023 summit. Some expect Biden to meet General Secretary Xi Jinping.
According to the State Department, Ng is currently responsible to offer “recommendations APEC leaders reflecting key APEC stakeholders”, as chair of APEC’s Business Advisory Council.
The FBI’s letter states that “The President’s appointment Mr. Ng as APEC Business Advisory Council president is just one example of the reach, motives and lengths its affiliated organisations will go to in order to install influential Chinese operatives into U.S. leadership positions.”
The DCNF found that Ng was not only a member of UFWD front groups but also met with UFWD leaders from China and the U.S.
Ng went to Hong Kong in 2012 to meet Tung Cheehwa. USCC’s 2018 Report described Tung as being “clearly associated” with the United Front.
According to Chinese government records, Ng met with COEA leaders Han Qide and He Yafei shortly after joining. Chinese government records show that Ng was then able to meet with Li Keqiang (the former CCP premier) and Yang Jiechi (the former foreign minister), respectively.
The DCNF discovered that Ng continues to meet high-ranking CCP leaders over the years. Ng, for example, attended the CPPCC national committee in Beijing in march 2015 and met the COEA “executive vice chair” Qiu Yuanping in Los Angeles the next year.
Ng offered to cooperate with Chinese government entities during all these meetings, as the DCNF discovered.
Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican Senator, called Ng’s alleged CCP ties in a February 10 tweet.
Rubio tweeted, “President Biden shouldn’t have appointed him so high up in government representing the U.S.A. in Asia.”
Gooden said to the DCNF that Ng’s appointment as a U.S. representative at APEC was “unfathomable” and called Biden’s decision to make Ng a U.S. Representative to APEC “unfathomable.”
Gooden stated that “His donation exceeding $100,000 to President Biden’s re-election campaign was rewarded with a position to advocate U.S. business interests throughout Asia.” The president should immediately rescind his appointment, and the FBI should investigate whether Mr. Ng passed sensitive information on to Chinese officials.
