Lateefah Simon, a longtime friend of Vice President Kamala Harris and now a candidate for Congress in California, has come under scrutiny for her connections to James Chau, President of Chinese Communist Party front group. Chau, director of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), has known Simon since 2008, when the two collaborated on HIV prevention in San Francisco.
Simon has been messaging Chau on social media for years, suggesting a personal relationship, Fox News Digital reports. Chau, who will be the president of CUSEF in 2023, worked previously with the group since 2018 under its founder Tung Chee-hwa, a former vice chair of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an important advocate for CCP interests abroad. CUSEF has been associated with a bid to recruit U.S. political and academic leaders to push China’s power agenda in the United States.
Simon and Harris: A Longstanding Friendship
Simon’s connection to Chau raises concerns given her close ties to Vice President Harris. Simon addressed the 2024 Democratic National Convention, applauding her for her partnership with Harris during the early 2000s, while Harris was the District Attorney of San Francisco. At the convention, Simon emphasized how Harris “sees” people and works tirelessly to help the marginalized .
Simon’s relationship with Chau is further troubled by Chau’s leadership of CUSEF, which, according to US intelligence, the CCP has used to influence US political and academic organizations. CUSEF’s links with the CCP are long known, and they even seek to work with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. To critics, CUSEF’s activism is simply part of the CCP’s effort to broaden its reach in the African American community and U.S. civil society organizations.
Biden’s Connections to the CCP Through Hunter Biden
The revelations about Simon’s association with a CCP front group leader occur at a moment when the high-level U.S. political engagement with China has become more critical. President Joe Biden has been asked numerous times whether his family is dealing with Chinese money – mostly through his son Hunter Biden. The company Hunter Biden did business with in China has been questioned, particularly his relationship with a Chinese energy conglomerate that lobbied Hunter’s companies for millions. Emails and other materials from Hunter’s laptop, published in 2020, detailed close ties to Chinese businessmen who worked with the CCP.
Hunter Biden in one instance signed an agreement with CEFC China Energy, a company closely tied to the Chinese state, to look at opportunities for commercial activities in the US and abroad. Hunter’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski confirmed the terms of these arrangements, accusing Joe Biden of being privy to the business transactions between his son and China.
Tim Walz’s China Connections
The relationship between U.S. politicians and the CCP doesn’t end with the Bidens. Even the governor of Minnesota Tim Walz has been criticized for his decades-long connection with Chinese officials and interests. As a former member of Congress, Walz championed several measures encouraging economic collaboration with China. He has long been a proponent of greater trade relations with China, particularly as a member of the House Agriculture Committee. Yet others complain that Walz has been too cozy with CCP-allied actors, particularly given wider concerns about China’s political footprint in the US.
The More General Problem of CCP Presence
The connections between Lateefah Simon, Hunter Biden and Tim Walz and the CCP’s allies and affiliates speak to a broader fear of China’s political influence in the US. The CCP has also used “United Front” strategies to consolidate power abroad, in conjunction with political elites, businessmen and universities.
CUSEF and the efforts of individuals such as James Chau have been key to this plan. It has even been able to pay for think tanks, hold high-level exchanges between US and Chinese leaders, and promote visits to universities in the United States. In CUSEF’s annual reports, they exhibit collaborations with the likes of Harvard, Princeton and Georgetown, and funding from CCP-affiliated Chinese billionaires.
By the 2024 election, disclosures of such relationships will likely become an important political tool in discussions of U.S.-China relations, national security, and the status of American democracy.
Sources:
- CUSEF Annual Report 2023
- House Intelligence Committee Report on CCP Influence Operations
- Hunter Biden Emails and Chinese Business Deals
- Fox News
