A million dollars in Chinese money reportedly greased the wheels of New York’s political system. An exclusive investigation from Newsweek called out cases of funding from Beijing landing in dozens of lawmakers’ pockets.
The report revealed decades of donations mainly from community groups. The groups are closely linked to Beijing’s United Front Work Department, which takes direct orders from the Chinese Communist Party’s top body. Experts in the West accuse it of serving as a propaganda and espionage arm and of aiding Beijing’s “transnational repression.”