Recent reports from U.S. media have revealed that the suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang, who had been accused of using seduction to approach former Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, expanded her political and business connections through the non-profit organization Asian Pacific American Public Affairs (APAPA). It is reported that the organization has been found to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party and continues to funnel interns into offices of politicians across the United States.
According to The New York Post citing declassified FBI documents on Wednesday, Swalwell informed the FBI that he first met graduate student Fang in early 2012 before he became a congressman, considering her as a primary point of contact between himself and the Asian organization APAPA.
Fang later became president of a branch of APAPA and used this position to place interns in the offices of other politicians in California, which aligns with one of the organization’s stated goals.
The documents also reveal that through her connections in APAPA, Fang seduced two other political figures in the American Midwest. One of them was an undisclosed mayor in Ohio, with whom she engaged in a sexual encounter in a car, monitored by the FBI through electronic surveillance.
The FBI documents indicate that there is evidence showing Fang engaged in multiple illegal activities related to donations, including illegal political contributions made on behalf of others, exceeding legal donation limits, accepting donations from foreign nationals, as well as forgery, destruction of records, conspiracy to make false statements, transnational bulk cash smuggling, and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
When the FBI initiated an investigation, Fang fled the United States and was subsequently listed by the State Department as a banned reentry individual.
According to reports, Fang graduated from the International Relations Institute in Beijing, which is operated by the Chinese Ministry of State Security and is considered a spy training institution. Before arriving in the U.S. on a student visa around 2011, she also worked as a flight attendant.
Declassified documents reveal that Fang came under FBI surveillance within two years of entering the United States.
Chinese media reports indicate that the FBI even attempted to recruit Fang as a double agent at one point, but the effort ended in failure. Upon realizing she was under surveillance, Fang fled back to China in 2015.
Currently, Fang is employed at a technology company in China. She claimed to Chinese media that both the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) tried to recruit her, offering her U.S. citizenship and $1 million to betray her country, or face the risk of being “destroyed,” leading her to choose to return to China.
In a statement sent to The New York Post, APAPA stated that the current national leadership is not aware of whether Fang held any authorized positions within the organization.
The organization emphasizes that its goal is to serve the Asian and Pacific Islander communities through leadership development and civic engagement.
The New York Post reports that several leaders of APAPA have been closely monitored by U.S. oversight groups due to their connections with the Chinese Communist Party.
U.S. oversight groups point out that APAPA’s national chairman, Henry Yin, has close ties with organizations considered part of the Chinese Communist Party’s united front system.
According to reports by the Sichuan Daily, from 2013 to 2023, Yin made several trips to China as head of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur delegation to promote technology investment in China and delivered speeches on topics such as “the perspectives of overseas Chinese in the U.S.”
Yin’s name also appeared in reports released by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Sichuan Province controlled by the CCP, identifying him as an “overseas Chinese leader residing in California and Silicon Valley” using his Chinese name.
The reports also noted that Yin’s family invested in the development of the technology industry in Renshou County and facilitated attracting investments from the U.S.
Jackie Deal, a senior researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute based in Philadelphia, pointed out, “APAPA serves as a hub for promoting pro-CCP activities, with a clearly political agenda.”
Yin himself had been appointed by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to join the California Economic Development Commission in 2010, a nomination later continued by Jerry Brown.
Yin told China Daily, “With the extensive resources and networks I have built up in both China and the U.S., as well as my years of experience in government, business, and social organizations in the future, should the government choose to let me play a role, I will do so without hesitation.”
During APAPA’s 2023 annual banquet, State Assemblyman William Colton from Brooklyn received the “Community Contribution Award” from the organization.
Former assistant Susan Zhuang, who worked for Colton for many years, had been a volunteer and member of APAPA. Zhuang was elected as a city council member in 2023, and in 2024, she was arrested for biting a police officer during a homelessness protest. The charges were later dropped after she completed a Restorative Justice Program.
The Restorative Justice Program is an alternative to traditional legal systems that focuses on repairing the harm caused by crime or conflict, rather than merely punishing the wrongdoer.
Furthermore, the relationship between Henry Yin and California Congressman Ro Khanna has also raised concerns.
According to Yin’s LinkedIn profile, he has been serving as a senior advisor to Khanna since 2019, but Khanna’s office recently stated that Yin had never held an official position in the congressman’s office.
Based on publicly available information from APAPA, the association has been sending interns to offices of political figures in various states, including New York State Senator Samra Brouk and New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim.
In California, APAPA’s Chief Operating Officer Marilyn Cachola Lucey previously served as the policy director of California State Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan.
APAPA board member Andrew Truman Kim had worked as an assistant to Congressman John Garamendi.
The New York Post points out that the individuals mentioned above have not been accused of wrongdoing or shown to be involved in Chinese espionage activities.
However, given the current heightened attention in the U.S. to Chinese influence activities in the country, especially following the Fang incident, the long-standing personnel and intern exchange relationships between APAPA and American politicians are once again under scrutiny.