Former top Hochul aide's unearthed family connections to CCP raises alarm bells

EXCLUSIVE: A erstwhile apical adjutant successful New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul’s bureau is the girl of a erstwhile Chinese writer whose archived biography says helium worked for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) "Education Department of the News Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department" arsenic a lawman manager and served successful aggregate enactment roles astatine state-run media outlets, a Fox News Digital probe found.

Fan Xiaojiang, oregon Elaine, is presently serving arsenic the main of unit for Democrat Scott Stringer’s mayoral run and has been progressive successful Democrat authorities in New York for much than a decade, including serving arsenic Hochul’s manager of Asian affairs betwixt October 2021 and November 2023, according to her Linkedin profile.

The latest run concern filing shows that she has been paid much than $120,000 by the Stringer run since past August. Stringer's run declined to remark for this story.

Fan, who is primitively from Beijing, was recognized by the City University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Communication Research successful a 2021 property merchandise promoting her relation successful the Hochul administration. The property merchandise called her an "alumnus" and boasted astir her being "one of the precise fewer Asian-American leaders who clasp a elder presumption successful the state’s government." 

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson/File)

The property merchandise went connected to punctuation prof Jonathan Zhu, a erstwhile supervisor, who said that "Elaine is the 3rd procreation of a journalist’s household successful China, with her gramps and begetter each playing a distinguished relation successful the respective eras of the nation’s history."

Fox News Digital tin present exclusively corroborate that this property merchandise was referring to Fan Dongsheng, her father, and Fan Changjiang, her precocious grandfather.

When reached for remark connected whether Elaine’s begetter influenced her to spell into the media, Zhu confirmed to Fox News Digital that Dongsheng was her begetter and said, "Although I person ne'er eyewitnessed what Fan Dongsheng told his girl astir vocation choice, his power connected her is evident and imaginable." 

He went connected to accidental that Dongsheng visited the assemblage that his girl attended a "few times, including a speech to our module members and postgraduate students connected his acquisition successful launching and operating Huasheng Monthly, 1 of the earliest online quality websites successful China."

Prior to jumping into authorities authorities successful 2014 arsenic the "Queens Borough Director & Citywide Asian American Affairs" for Stringer’s comptroller office, Elaine was the "Chief Reporter" for Ming Pao Daily News for astir a decennary betwixt 2005 and 2015, according to her Linkedin profile.

A fewer years earlier she joined the media outlet, the Jamestown Foundation, a nonpartisan defence argumentation deliberation tank, sounded the alarm astir the media outlet being "heavily influenced" by the Chinese authorities and revealed that sources told them that the Chinese Consulate successful New York was their "true boss."

This would not beryllium the archetypal clip that idiosyncratic from the Fan household would enactment for a media outlet influenced by the Chinese government. Fan’s begetter served arsenic the president and editorial manager of China Press, oregon Qiaobao, successful New York betwixt 1999 and 2005, according to aggregate archived online bios.

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Experts raised concerns to Fox News Digital astir Elaine Fan's (third from left) ties to the CCP. (Victoria Ng/Instagram)

China Press was not lone designated by the State Department during President Donald Trump’s archetypal word arsenic "state-backed propaganda" and a "foreign mission," but the Hoover Institution besides sounded the alarm, saying successful a 2020 report that the "state-owned China News Service and the Overseas Chinese Office of the State Council dispatched editorial unit to the United States" to recovered Qiaobao.

The elder Fan besides served arsenic the "director of the Special Editorial Department of the Chinese News Agency," which present refers to the Xinhua News Agency, a apical state-run propaganda outlet, according to the Hoover Institution. Multiple bios said helium was besides the lawman manager of the "Education Department of the News Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department."

According to a Chinese authorities website reviewed by Fox News Digital, the CPD is the "organization chiefly liable for monitoring contented to guarantee that China's publishers, successful peculiar its quality publishers, bash not people thing that is inconsistent with the Communist Party's governmental dogma."

After leaving state-owned media, Dongsheng held aggregate enactment roles astatine the Cheung Kong School of Journalism and Communication astatine Shantou University, a Chinese assemblage that has sections connected their website that beforehand the CCP "Party Building Work" and hosted a themed beingness gathering a fewer years agone connected "Strive similar an outstanding Communist Party member"

The exertion of China Brief astatine the Jamestown Foundation expressed heavy concerns erstwhile Fox News Digital reached retired astir Fan’s familial ties to the CCP, saying she "comes from an illustrious household of CCP journalists."

"Her gramps was 1 of the much salient propagandists of the CCP's struggles from the 1930s onwards, portion her begetter worked for a scope of enactment publications managed nether the cardinal propaganda section successful Beijing," Arran Hope told Fox News Digital. "This included a stint successful the United States, wherever her girl present works arsenic main of unit to mayoral campaigner Scott Stringer, pursuing a stint arsenic a newsman for different enactment outlet here. Fan has not distanced herself from her household legacy, rather the opposite. In 2017, for example, she delivered a code astatine a journalism schoolhouse successful the PRC (People's Republic of China) named successful her grandfather's honor."

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China's nationalist flag (Adek Berry)

"More concerning for New York City's voters, she appears to beryllium actively progressive successful the party's United Front system, which seeks to beforehand the party's preferences and power some wrong and without the PRC. She has fixed speeches astatine events organized by the PRC Consulate successful New York that observe United Front organizations successful the city," helium continued. "These events telephone for promoting reunification with Taiwan arsenic good arsenic advocating for the ‘motherland’ and its interests. To person idiosyncratic whom PRC diplomats intelligibly presumption favorably successful specified a elder relation successful New York authorities should beryllium origin for concern."

Elaine Fan's precocious gramps joined the Chinese Communist Party successful 1939 and had enactment roles astatine aggregate state-owned media outlets, including arsenic the editor-in-chief of the Xinhua News Agency, lawman manager of the General Administration of Information and president of the People's Daily News Agency, according to aggregate bios connected Baidu. In summation to her begetter and grandfather, Fan's uncle, Fan Xiaojian, joined the CCP successful 1976 and has held aggregate roles successful the CCP, including arsenic the main economist and manager of the concern section of the ministry of agriculture betwixt 1998 and 2000.

He was besides a delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and was a subordinate of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which Fox News Digital antecedently reported was "designed to liaise with non-Communist Party members – and yet spot them enactment with the CCP to beforehand its interests," according to a 2021 study from The Diplomat.

During her tenure successful the Hochul administration, Elaine attended respective events hosted by the Chinese Consulate successful New York City and aggregate groups that marque up China's United Front, which works to "co-opt and neutralize sources of imaginable absorption to the policies and authorization of its ruling," according to a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report.

Former adjutant to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Linda Sun, is accused of buying $6 cardinal worthy of spot successful New York, Hawaii with Chinese Communist Party money. (Getty Images)

Elaine was a impermanent of grant astatine an lawsuit past September astatine the consulate successful New York City to observe the 27th day of the U.S.-Fujian Western Overseas Chinese Association, which is simply a United Front group, according to the Chinese government. 

She besides attended an lawsuit called "An Evening of Chinese Culture" hosted by the New York Mets and Sino-American Friendship Association successful 2023, which received backlash. According to an August 2022 op-ed from the Washington Post’s lawman sentiment editor, "China experts person identified" SAFA arsenic "being progressive successful United Front enactment – a planetary effort to propagandize connected behalf of the Chinese Communist Party."

In 2021, Hochul gave a shout-out to Fan portion announcing that Chinatown was a $20 Million New York City portion victor for revitalization, saying she "forgot to notation Elaine Fan is present my Director of Asian Affairs." She past told the assemblage to "Make definite you get to cognize Elaine Fan arsenic well."

Hudson Institute Fellow Michael Sobolik spoke to Fox News Digital astir the totality of Fan's links to the CCP, saying, "This isn't complicated."

"If Elaine Fan ever worked for CCP-controlled authorities media, she shouldn’t beryllium invited successful U.S. electoral politics. If Scott Stringer lacks discernment to insulate a run from imaginable vectors of CCP influence, however tin helium support New York City from that malign power successful nationalist office?"

In September 2023, Chinese Consul General Huang Ping successful New York hosted a reception astatine the consulate to observe the 74th day of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which included respective officials, including Fan, who delivered remarks astatine the reception. 

Hochul’s ties to Elaine Fan aren’t the archetypal clip that her bureau has faced scrutiny implicit concerns astir CCP influence. Hochul faced backlash past twelvemonth aft it was revealed that her erstwhile lawman main of staff, Linda Sun, was indicted connected charges of "violating and conspiring to interruption the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and wealth laundering conspiracy," according to a Department of Justice property merchandise successful September.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Sun’s lawyers person repeatedly denied the charges, but the indictment revealed immoderate damning communications betwixt Sun and Huang Ping, who near his relation arsenic the consul wide of the New York City Chinese consulate weeks aft the indictment against Sun was announced.

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Fox News Digital has extensively reported connected Ping, who was spotted making visits to apical universities, speaking with elected officials and carousing with apical media outlets contempt his agelong past of pushing CCP narratives and publically denying quality rights violations against China's Uyghur population. The unsealed indictment revealed that a speechwriter for then-Lt. Gov. Hochul wanted to notation the "Uyghur situation" successful China for her 2021 Lunar New Year message, but the plight of the number radical being persecuted by the Chinese authorities was yet omitted aft Sun overruled the speechwriter. 

The indictment says Sun revealed to Ping what the speechwriter wanted to see but insisted that she would not fto her brag notation Uyghurs aft admitting that she was "starting to suffer her temper" with the speechwriter. Ping appeared to chalk up the speechwriter’s proposition arsenic a clueless American who had ne'er visited China and that U.S.-China relations could "sour" due to the fact that of "people similar the speechwriter," the indictment said, prompting Sun to concur that the speechwriter had ne'er visited China. Ping would spell connected to station Hochul’s Lunar New Year connection days aboriginal connected his Facebook page, which did not notation Uyghurs.

Fox News Digital reached retired to Fan and Hochul's bureau but did not person a response.