The CEO of a corporation that is a registered foreign agent of China organized an annual Asian American parade in midtown Manhattan with Mayor Eric Adams’ approval, according to records Newsweek was able to get.
The results create fresh concerns about Chinese influence operations in the US, especially in New York City, where prominent lawmakers like Adams and a few others have reportedly accepted funds for their campaigns from organizations connected to the Communist Party of China.
Inaugurated in 2022, the city’s “Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month” is holding its annual Asian-American parade next May 19 on Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue.
Although the parade’s organizers claim to welcome all Asian Americans, Newsweek was able to get records that indicate they exclude organizations they consider to be politically or spiritually contentious. Notably, those who disagree with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – including Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, and Tibetans – said they hadn’t received an invitation to participate, hadn’t been accepted, or didn’t want to go because they felt insecure.
Hundreds of pages of emails that Newsweek was able to get through a FOIA request reveal that Robin Mui, the CEO of Sing Tao US, a Chinese-language media outlet that had been ordered by the Department of Justice to register as a foreign agent in 2021, was responsible for organizing the march in 2022. Five out of the seven board members of its parenty company Sing Tao News Corporation, a media company located in Hong Kong, have been identified as members of social or political organizations that are a component of the Chinese Communist Party’s “united front” political influence structure.
Better Chinatown USA, a community organization headed by Steven Tin, who arranges Lunar New Year celebrations in Manhattan’s Chinatown, also collaborated with Mui. The event was arranged with the assistance of Mayor Adams, his Asian Affairs adviser Winnie Greco, an AAPI advisory committee in the mayor’s office, and other city authorities.
Adams himself marched in front of Huang Ping, the Chinese consul general, while carrying a red banner throughout the first two marches. According to a post on the website of the Chinese consulate-general, six additional New York politicians—including Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY)—as well as diplomats from six other Asian countries participated in 2023.
According to correspondence, officials from many Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Korea, Japan, and the Philippines, were asked to participate in the inauguration march. Howerver, diplomats from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, the de facto embassy of Taiwan, that China claims is part of its territory, were remarkably left out of the invitation list.
Frances Hui, the creator of the community organization We The Hongkongers, was also one of them. Two weeks after applying, she claimed to have gotten nothing but requests for further information, to which she unsuccessfully replied.
“As the mayor of the city with the second-largest Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the country, Mayor Adams celebrates AAPI New Yorkers who contribute to the rich culture that make our city the greatest in the world,” an email from Adams’ office stated. “We celebrate all cultures that embody the diverse communities that make up New York City’s rich melting pot.”
