New York City Mayor Eric Adams attended Chinese government-linked festivities in Manhattan on Sunday, which marked China’s “National Day,” the anniversary of mass murderer Mao Zedong imposing communism.
Adams’ participation in the events on October 1, the anniversary of the founding of the “People’s Republic of China,” is notable given mounting reports of Adams maintaining close ties with, including reportedly receiving financial donations from, individuals believed to be affiliated with China’s United Front Work Department (UFWD). “United Front Work” is a catchall term the Communist Party uses for foreign interference operations masquerading as cultural outreach, charity, or educational programs.
Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping, the most powerful Chinese government official in New York, described himself as “deeply moved” by Adams’ presence at the “China Day Parade Festival” and claimed the celebration proved the “great support of the overseas Chinese for China’s development and the friendly cooperation between China and the US.” The images of the events do not indicate that any representatives of “overseas Chinese” who fled to America as a result of the violent repression of political dissidents and communities of faith in that country participated.
So happy to celebrate the China Day Parade Festival with Mayor Eric Adams at Chinatown on China’s National Day. Deeply moved by the great support of the overseas Chinese for China’s development and the friendly cooperation between China and the US. Let’s continue to show… pic.twitter.com/iv5htX0SCD
— Huang Ping 黄屏 (@CGHuangPingNY) October 1, 2023
The day’s festivities included raising the red flag of China in Chinatown, Manhattan.
“Happy Birthday to my motherland! Congratulations to all Chinese compatriots!” Huang posted in a message on Twitter.
Raising the national flag with the Chinese Community on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China at Chinatown. Happy Birthday to my motherland! Congratulations to all Chinese compatriots! pic.twitter.com/SrH1hsct5Y
— Huang Ping 黄屏 (@CGHuangPingNY) October 1, 2023
“China Day” is an official holiday in New York as of 2019, when the state legislature created it. Lawmakers supporting the creation of the holiday indicated that its passing was a way of rebuking then-President Donald Trump’s assertive foreign policy regarding the national security threat posed by genocidal dictator Xi Jinping.
“It’s important that we remember and recognize that regardless of what we see happening at the federal level, that we need to do our part to maintain a relationship with China,” State Senator David Carlucci said at the time, thanking Consul Huang Ping for promoting the creation of the day.
Adams described the events he attended on social media as celebrations of the Mid-Autumn Festival, an apolitical traditional Chinese holiday falling on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar – this year, beginning on September 29. In China, the Communist Party has melded the Mid-Autumn Festival with the anniversary of the People’s Republic to create “Golden Week,” festivities to promote economic activity and tourism.
In contrast to Huang, who described Sunday’s events as depicting the “great support of the overseas Chinese for China’s development and the friendly cooperation between China and the US,” Adams called the day a celebration of “the Moon, prosperity, gratitude, and good fortune.”
Adams has prioritized attending Chinese events in New York City. In February 2022, the mayor delivered remarks at an event billed as the “Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival” that featured a giant banner advertising the Beijing Winter Olympics, a event China used as propaganda to silence criticism of its ongoing genocide of Uyghur people, ethnic cleansing policies in Tibet and Inner Mongolia, and other human rights atrocities.
“I’m recommitted more than ever to make sure my AAPI [Asian-American and Pacific Islander] community is safe in the city of New York as we end the violence against this community,” Adams said at that event. “We stand united.”
The “Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival” Olympics banner included a logo for the Tibetan Association of North America, implying that the organization sponsored it and, thus, that a Tibetan group supported China as a legitimate Olympics host. As Breitbart News revealed at the time, confirming with local Tibetan organizations, the “Tibetan Association of North America” does not exist.
“That’s not even our logo. Looks like a fake group,” Lhawang Ngadup, the president of the Tibetan Association of New York and New Jersey, told Breitbart News.
New York City is the epicenter of a criminal investigation into the Chinese government establishing illegal “police stations” outside its borders to repress and spy on its diaspora. In April, the U.S. Justice Department revealed charges against two men, “Harry” Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping of the Bronx and Manhattan, for operating the police station.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace accused China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) of “repeatedly and flagrantly violat[ing] our nation’s sovereignty by opening and operating a police station in the middle of New York City.”
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China], through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said. “The PRC’s actions go far beyond the bounds of acceptable nation-state conduct. We will resolutely defend the freedoms of all those living in our country from the threat of authoritarian repression.”
Video surfacing at the time appeared to show Adams engaging Lu at a political event a month before the prosecutors announced the charges. In an investigation published last week, Newsweek revealed that Adams received political donations from Lu and his brother.
“The Adams campaign returned the contribution after serious, credible allegations were made against the contributor, who misled many other New Yorkers and elected officials about the nature of their organization and their work in the city,” Adams’ campaign spokesperson Evan Thies told Newsweek.
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