California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu was appointed to a leadership position within an alleged Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence front group in 2019, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.
In August 2019, Chu was named “honorary chairwoman” of the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China, an organization which opposes Taiwan’s independence, according to a DCNF translation of multiple sources. However, the U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission (USCC) has previously identified the organization as serving a CCP “intelligence service,” while multiple experts told the DCNF that they agreed with USCC’s determination.
Chu and the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
The Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China is one of 33 anti-Taiwan independence organizations in the U.S. which serve as subchapters of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR), an organization USCC labeled as “directly subordinate” to the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in 2018.
The UFWD’s “primary missions” are to “liaison with foreign political parties,” “influence operations” and “intelligence collection,” the USCC has stated, and, towards that end, the CCP deploys UFWD operatives around the world to “co-opt and neutralize” potential opposition groups such as “ethnic minorities, religious groups and intellectuals.”
The Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China appointed Chu their “honorary chairwoman” during the 34th inauguration ceremony of the organization’s executive committee held at the Capital Seafood restaurant in Monterey Park on August 23, 2019, according to a DCNF translation of an article by the Las Vegas Chinese News Network and the website of another UFWD affiliate.
Is this something like getting the fox to guard the hen house?