THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Brian Spegele
June 23, 2020
Soon
after Donald Trump took office, people with ties to the Chinese state
poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into his re-election bid to get
close to and potentially influence the new president.
The
effort had early success in gaining access for those involved, helping
them meet the president or top Republicans at fundraisers or at an
internal GOP leadership meeting. It reveals how China seeks to build
inroads into U.S. politics, gather information on U.S. leaders and if
possible affect policy-making.
Several
of those involved worked closely with China’s national-security
apparatus, including organizations linked to its military, and briefed
prominent Chinese political figures about their efforts.
As
guests of a Republican official named Shawn Steel, Chinese nationals,
including a man working for China’s central government, attended an
invitation-only gathering in May 2017 where GOP leaders discussed
campaign strategies and other issues.
In
response to inquiries, the Republican National Committee said it had
instructed Mr. Steel to break ties with several people identified in
Wall Street Journal reporting.
“It’s
important to do all we can to safeguard our politics from illegal
foreign meddling,” the RNC said in response to questions. It said it
wouldn’t return donations identified by the Journal that facilitated
access to the president and other officials because it didn’t believe
campaign-finance laws were broken.
Separately,
Mr. Steel, a Republican national committeeman from California, said it
would be “false, defamatory, and offensive” to say he aided any Chinese
efforts. He didn’t respond to specific questions.
There
is no indication Mr. Trump was aware of the political contributions.
The White House didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The
Journal pieced together details of the efforts from campaign-finance
records, Chinese government websites and U.S. corporate filings as well
as through interviews with people involved. It couldn’t be determined
whether any of the contributions or other activities violated U.S. laws.
Federal law prohibits political giving by people who aren’t U.S.
citizens or permanent residents.
The
initial effort to access the Trump administration appears to have
stalled as tensions between the U.S. and China have grown, first over
trade and now over the Covid-19 pandemic. Relations between the two
countries are at a low point, and criticizing China has become a
political staple for Mr. Trump.
U.S.
officials said China, which has historically stepped up efforts to
influence U.S. politics when it feels challenged, recently intensified
efforts to push misinformation through social media and other channels.
China has long denied meddling in other countries’ affairs.
Most
of the political donations identified by the Journal flowed to a
fundraising committee called Trump Victory in the first half of the
Trump presidency. The donations were among the largest of 2017, as the
young administration was planning its China policy. The money accounts
for just a fraction of the more than $190 million the committee has
raised since Mr. Trump took office.
Chinese
nationals involved said they weren’t acting on behalf of China’s
government but sought to get close to Mr. Trump for personal reasons or
to help them in business. China’s government didn’t respond to requests
for comment, nor did China’s Embassy in Washington.
Unlike
his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, whose positions on international
issues were well known from her time as secretary of state, Mr. Trump
entered office as an unknown quantity to China whom its leaders urgently
needed to understand.
The
Journal also examined campaign-finance records for Mrs. Clinton’s
candidacy and for the presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee, Joe Biden. It
didn’t find similar efforts involving the two by people linked to
China’s government.
Chinese
money has allegedly flowed to Democrats previously, including to
President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election effort, which led to guilty
pleas by Democratic fundraisers for election-law violations and other
crimes.
Soon
after the 2016 election, officials from China’s consulate in Los
Angeles approached a pro-Trump organizer named David Tian Wang, said
people who worked with him. A native of China with a U.S. green card,
Mr. Wang had founded a group called Chinese Americans for Trump and had
long associations with people and groups in California supported by
China’s government, according to Chinese official websites and state
media.
The
Chinese consulate asked for Mr. Wang’s help in lobbying on China issues
during the Trump administration, said Lance Chen, a former member of
Mr. Wang’s political group. Mr. Chen said Mr. Wang tried to recruit him
for the lobbying effort but he declined to help.
Mr.
Wang was soon listed as chief executive of a newly registered
government-relations firm in California, Wang & Ma Government
Relations LLC, state business records show. He also gave $150,000 to the
Trump Victory fundraising committee, according to Federal Election
Commission disclosures.
He
became a frequent presence in Republican circles. In one case, Mr. Wang
was quoted in Chinese-language media in the U.S. as saying he used
access to the Trump campaign to push a view that U.S. military
deployments in the contested South China Sea were a waste of money.
Lobbyists
for foreign governments are required to register with the Justice
Department. Mr. Wang’s name doesn’t appear in the department’s
foreign-agents database.
Mr.
Wang didn’t answer most specific questions from the Journal but said in
a text message: “I have NO ties to the Chinese government and do not
take orders from anyone.” He added that he loved China and the U.S. and
believed in the Republican Party’s platform.
In
May 2017, Mr. Wang attended a Republican National Committee
invitation-only leadership meeting in San Diego as a guest of Mr. Steel,
the California committeeman, people familiar with the matter said. The
gathering was an early chance for Republican leaders to plan the path
forward for the party after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
Accompanying
Mr. Wang to the meeting as Mr. Steel’s guests were three men linked to
China’s government. The first was Zhao Gang, whom Chinese official
websites identify as a researcher for China’s Ministry of Science and
Technology focused on national security, tech diplomacy and other
issues. Mr. Zhao’s work has connected him with the senior echelons of
China’s Communist Party, including a close associate of President Xi
Jinping, say people who have met Mr. Zhao.
Another
was Tang Ben, a China-born U.S. citizen who served as an
executive-committee member at the China Strategic Culture Promotion
Association, an opaque group that state media have said advises China’s
leaders on security issues. Its secretary-general, retired Maj. Gen. Luo
Yuan, is well-known to U.S. officials for his hawkish posture toward
the U.S.
The
third was Li Su, a government-connected businessman who has worked
closely with a well-known former associate of China’s vice president.
The
presence of Messrs. Zhao and Li at the GOP leadership event was unusual
because federal election rules don’t permit foreign nationals to play
any role in decision making at U.S. political committees.
Mr.
Zhao said that his participation was out of “academic interest” and
that China’s government provided no funding for it. Mr. Li also said he
was there in a personal capacity.
The
three men had appeared at events together in China before. In September
2016, Messrs. Zhao, Tang and Li participated in a closed-door meeting
billed as a U.S.-China security dialogue. They were part of a Chinese
delegation that included a hard-line military strategist and a leader of
a research center controlled by China’s military, according to an event
program. An older man wearing a Mao suit led the Chinese side, who
participants were told was a personal adviser to President Xi.
U.S.
participants included Michael Breen, then-CEO of the center-left Truman
National Security Project, and a former Defense Intelligence Agency
officer named Welton Chang. They said that throughout the three-hour
meeting, Chinese participants voiced hope an election win by Mr. Trump
might lead to U.S. retrenchment in the Asia-Pacific region.
Both
American participants said they worried the event was designed to let
Chinese intelligence get to know them. Mr. Chang said he reported the
encounter to U.S. intelligence.
The
RNC said the men who attended the Republican Party meeting in San Diego
didn’t have any meaningful interaction with GOP leaders there. However,
it said, it has barred them from future RNC events.
The
committee also said it now has tightened its policy on guests at such
meetings, effectively excluding foreign nationals, and it has cut ties
with Mr. Wang, the founder of Chinese Americans for Trump.
Mr.
Steel said he doesn’t “collect money from, nor have received any funds
from” Messrs. Zhao, Tang, Li or Wang. Mr. Steel didn’t answer a question
about why they were there as his guests.
The
Federal Election Commission declined to comment on the men’s attendance
at the Republican meeting, citing “potential for this matter to come
before the Commission in an enforcement capacity.”
Following
the San Diego meeting, Messrs. Zhao, Tang and Li briefed a group of
Chinese political figures in China, including retired Gen. Luo, on their
access to top Republicans, according to a video of the event. Mr. Li
said Mr. Trump’s election could prove a win for China, according to the
video.
In
June 2017, Trump Victory received a combined $300,000 from Mr. Tang and
his wife. The donations allowed Mr. Tang to attend a fundraiser at
Washington’s Trump International Hotel, where he led Chinese guests to
meet the president. The contributions by the Tangs, who FEC records show
hadn’t previously given to Mr. Trump, were two of the biggest donations
Trump Victory received in 2017.
Mr.
Tang described the visit in a Chinese newspaper commentary as
grass-roots diplomacy for China. Interacting with the president “can
help find a breakthrough in freeing up the U.S.-China technology trade,”
he wrote.
On
a Chinese social-media account, he posted photos of himself in the
White House. “If the Chinese people wish to overtake the U.S., they must
study the U.S.,” Mr. Tang wrote.
Reached
on a Chinese cellphone number, Mr. Tang hung up when told the caller
was a reporter. Earlier, his wife said in a brief interview that her
husband spent most of his time in China and that she wasn’t familiar
with any political donations.
Accompanying
Mr. Tang at the 2017 fundraiser, the RNC confirmed, was Mr. Zhao from
the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, plus the chairman of a
state-backed Chinese producer of military communications and satellite
equipment, Huaxun Fangzhou Co.
The
executive, Wu Guangsheng, told Mr. Trump that Chinese technology
companies were eager to invest in the U.S., according to an account on
the website of Huaxun’s parent company.
It
said that shortly before his Washington visit, Mr. Wu attended a
meeting in Beijing with the then-head of the United Front Work
Department, a Communist Party agency that seeks to shape global politics
in China’s favor.
Mr.
Wu’s company said he wasn’t aware the event was a fundraiser when
invited. It said he sought to open doors to pursue U.S. business.
(Aruna Viswanatha, Caitlin Ostroff and Lisa Schwartz contributed to this article).
Write to Brian Spegele at brian.spegele@wsj.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China-backed
Hackers Target Biden Campaign in Early Sign of 2020 Election Interference
By Ping Zhang
June 15, 2020 09:52
PM
WASHINGTON - Google
announced earlier this month that Chinese-backed hackers were observed
targeting former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign staff.
The internet giant
said that hackers did not appear to compromise the campaign’s security, but the
surveillance was a reminder of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Analysts say China’s
primary motive for breaking into a campaign is to collect intelligence such as
Biden’s proposals for U.S. policy on China, although hackers could later try to
use stolen intelligence to interfere in the campaign itself.
APT31
Shane Huntley,
director of Google’s Threat Analysis Group twittered on June 4 that the company
has discovered a “China APT group targeting Biden campaign staff with
phishing,” but there was "no sign of compromise.”
Recently TAG saw China APT group targeting Biden campaign
staff & Iran APT targeting Trump campaign staff with phishing. No sign of
compromise. We sent users our govt attack warning and we referred to fed law
enforcement. https://security.googleblog.com/2018/08/a-reminder-about-
The group Google
discovered is called APT31. APT is an acronym for “advanced persistent threat” usually from a
group that has the backing of, and direction from, an established nation
state.
According to ZDNet, a tech trade publication, APT31 “also
known as Zirconium, is a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group that has been
active since at least early 2016, and has historically targeted foreign
companies to steal intellectual property, however, it has also targeted
diplomatic entities in the past.”
“This group, APT31
that we've tracked for awhile, [is] a group that we've seen involved in what we
believe is strategic intelligence collection for things of interest to the
Chinese government,” said Luke McNamara, a principal analyst with cybersecurity
firm FireEye Intelligence.
Biden’s campaign
issued a statement that it has “known from the beginning that the campaign
would be subject to such attacks” and the campaign will ensure that its assets
are secure.
An official at the
U.S. government’s Cybersecurity
and Infrastructure Security Agency told VOA they have shared
the information with congressional campaigns and state and local election
officials to better prepare them for attacks.
“Google’s announcement
shows that secure, resilient elections are much bigger than state and local, or
even federal government efforts. The private sector has a key role, as does the
American voter,” the official said in an email response.
Spying or interfering?
This is not the first
time that Chinese hackers have been accused of targeting a U.S. presidential
campaign team.
During the 2008
presidential election campaign, a group of hackers believed to be supported by
the Chinese government was accused of hacking into the campaign
teams of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his Republican
rival John McCain, obtaining email correspondence and internal documents that
included the candidates’ positions on China.
James Lewis, director
of the Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS), said that by breaking into a campaign, a hacker could learn
valuable information such as the candidate’s strategies and personal network of
friends and colleagues.
“In fact, I know the
Biden campaign is writing position papers on how to deal with China. Getting
access to that would be invaluable for Beijing. And that's the primary motive,”
he told VOA.
“Will they go beyond
that and actually try and interfere in the campaign the way the Russians have?”
Lewis said. “I don't know. But collect intelligence. Yes. Interfere in the
campaign. Maybe.”
Cybersecurity experts
say whether ACT31 is intelligence gathering or engaging in political
interference depends on how the hackers use the stolen information.
U.S. intelligence
agencies found that during the 2016 presidential election cycle, Russians
successfully hacked into the email box of the campaign manager for Democratic
contender Hillary Clinton, using a “phishing” strategy. The hackers then went
ahead and exposed tens of thousands of stolen emails via
WikiLeaks.
Many political
observers believe those emails undermined Clinton’s campaign, contributing to
her loss in the 2016 election.
Information operations
Apart from hacking,
foreign forces also use social media to spread misinformation that can mislead
people or exacerbate political divisions among voters. This is referred to as “information operations” in the
intelligence community.
Chinese officials are
increasingly taking advantage of social media platforms that are banned in
China, such as Twitter and Facebook, to conduct information operations
overseas.
Michael Daniel, the
president and CEO of Cyber Threat Alliance, an independent group of cyber
security advisers, told VOA Mandarin he expects China to use information
operations to promote policies and politicians that would seem more friendly to
China.
“That's very different
than trying to disrupt the electoral process and have us wonder who actually
won a particular race,” he told VOA Mandarin.
FireEye’s McNamara
agreed. He added that China has been building its capability of employing
information operations, and whether it will use it to interfere the U.S.
election is one of the things to look for in the future.
Yet CSIS’s Lewis
offered a more concerning perspective. He said that in the past few years,
China has taken a much more overtly political campaign in Australia, Taiwan,
Canada and some Southeast Asian countries.
“China is using all
the tools it has to interfere with politics there. And I think they're
experimenting with a good way to do this in the U.S.,” he said. “I think the
Chinese have decided they need to get into this game of political
interference.”
China has been
repeatedly accused of attempting to influence the American elections. A Senate
investigation in 1998 revealed that the Chinese government had illegally
donated to the Democratic Party in the 1996 presidential election.
The U.S. National
Intelligence Agency reported China tried to spread misinformation in the 2018 midterm
elections.
Chinese officials have
repeatedly denied that Beijing any intention of interfering with the internal
affairs of other countries, and in April, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman
Geng Shuang told reporters during a daily briefing, “The U.S. presidential
election is an internal affair, we have no interest in interfering in
it.”
Lin Yang contributed
to this report.
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