Caught in the act?

[guyfriday]

More fallout from the Chinese Spy out of New York.
 Exclusive | Chinese Communist Party tried to 'steal' NY assembly seat, Queens pol Ron Kim claims just days after ex-Hochul aide's arrest as foreign agent (nypost.com)

 Queens state Assemblyman Ron Kim says groups tied to the Chinese Community Party tried to topple him and steal his predominantly Asian-populated seat in the June Democratic primary.
 
“There were clear patterns of foreign influence trying to dictate the outcome of the election — groups with ties to mainland China and the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]. They were trying to steal the Flushing seat,”  Kim told The Post.
 
“It’s a very layered operation. We’re entering dangerous territory. I don’t know how we can stop it,”  he said. 
 
Kim, a Korean-American, is speaking out after the stunning arrest of Linda Sun, a former top aide to Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo.

Sun, along with her husband, Christopher Hu, is charged with being an unregistered agent for the CCP in exchange for millions of dollars in kickbacks and laundering the illicit money to buy a $4.1 million mansion in Manhasset, LI, a $2 million posh Honolulu condo and a fleet of luxury cars, including a 2024 Ferrari Roma.
 
Kim’s Dem opponent in the 40th District’s primary race, upstart Yi Andy Chen, was endorsed by the American Chinese Commerce Association. The association is a group identified as linked to the CCP and John Chan, a Chinese-American activist and chairman of the group with reportedly close ties to the People’s Republic of China and its Consulate General office in New York.
 
Kim, who was first elected in 2012, won his tough primary battle by 443 votes. 
 
The CCP’s influence-flexing in New York’s growing Asian communities has been whispered about in recent years, but people feared going on the record to avoid being targeted by the powerful foreign government known to monitor its critics abroad, sources said.
 
“It’s a scary thing,” Kim said of speaking out against the CCP.
 
He said an overwhelming majority of Chinese and other Asians move here to flee communism and authoritarianism for a better life and are patriotic Americans.
“The majority of Asia groups are loyal to American business and American capital,” Kim said.
 
But “there is a new wave of organizations tied to the CCP that are not loyal to our way of life,” he said.

Sorry for quoting so much of the story, but there is a lot I didn't quote but really wanted to. The highlight here is that the roll of the CCP in influencing local politicians through extortion and bribes seems to have crossed a tipping point for enough people that something is being done about it. 

One thing I'm worried about is that China might be allowing this exposure on purpose. By this winter there won't be any Aircraft Carrier fleets in the Pacific Occean. If this information is correct, then I would expect a Pearl Harbor like attack from China in either the US or one of its allies, most likely Tiawan but Japan or even US mainland is possible. With these negative reports going out about China, goading the US population into a war with China wouldn't be too hard with these reports being allowed to come out. 

Hopefully my assessment is wrong and these reports about Chinese corruption getting exposed is due to people having enough of their crap, but I'm still warry about why now.

[guyfriday]

And now this story is coming out as well.
EXCLUSIVE: Dem Rep Serves As ‘Honorary Chairwoman’ Of Org Reportedly Linked To Chinese Intel Agency | The Daily Caller

 New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng has longstanding ties to an organization reportedly linked to a Chinese intelligence agency and alleged Communist Party operatives, the Daily Caller News Foundation found.
 
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday indicted Linda Sun, who served in two New York governors’ offices as well as Meng’s chief of staff while she served in the state assembly, for allegedly acting as an unregistered foreign agent of China and money laundering.
 
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Sun met the “heads of key groups identifiable in the indictment as being United Front-linked, including the U.S. Federation of Chinese-American Entrepreneurs and the Henan Association of Eastern America.”
 
China’s so-called “United Front” strategy of influence and intelligence collection is overseen by a Chinese intelligence service called the United Front Work Department.
The heads of these groups were “supervised, directed, and controlled by, Chinese, government officials,” DOJ alleges.

Now the interesting bit is these lines in the story:

Meng has been associated with Henan Association Of Eastern America (HAEA), a New York-based organization, for over a decade. She previously served as “deputy chairwoman,” according to an archived version of HAEA’s website, and the group now prominently identifies the congresswoman as an “honorary chairwoman.”

and this

The DOJ’s indictment, however, does note that one of Sun’s alleged unnamed co-conspirators, known as CC-1, “served as the president of an association of persons from Henan Province, PRC located in the New York metropolitan area.”

The level of Chinese spread being exposed here should be eye opening to other around the world, and maybe promoting them to dig into who these organizations are that drive local political decisions.

[FlyingClayDisk]

...

One thing I'm worried about is that China might be allowing this exposure on purpose. By this winter there won't be any Aircraft Carrier fleets in the Pacific Occean. If this information is correct, then I would expect a Pearl Harbor like attack from China in either the US or one of its allies, most likely Tiawan but Japan or even US mainland is possible. With these negative reports going out about China, goading the US population into a war with China wouldn't be too hard with these reports being allowed to come out. 

Hopefully my assessment is wrong and these reports about Chinese corruption getting exposed is due to people having enough of their crap, but I'm still warry about why now.

That's not how China operates.  You will likely never see an overt attack like Pearl Harbor by China.  That's just not how their mentality works.  Their core philosophy is a slow, steady and unrelenting pressure on their opponents.  It's not a lot of pressure, nor is it focused on any single point; it is just an unyielding pressure which never lets up.  The Chinese are very pragmatic and believe they have the time to wait out their opponents, and that they will prevail just through sheer numbers.  Historically, it has proven to be a surprisingly effective strategy.

One way you can know this is by looking at what happens whenever China tries to do something rash.  It generally always fails.  Just look at the real estate boom throughout Asia, especially SE Asia, since about 1998.  All of that investment is now coming back to haunt China in a big way.  It's so severe, it could possibly collapse the Chinese economy if they don't figure out a solution.  The... "Field of Dreams - Build it and they will come.".... strategy has failed stupendously.  It's actually astonishing how badly that whole initiative has failed.

[Maxmars]

One way you can know this is by looking at what happens whenever China tries to do something rash.  It generally always fails.  Just look at the real estate boom throughout Asia, especially SE Asia, since about 1998.  All of that investment is now coming back to haunt China in a big way.  It's so severe, it could possibly collapse the Chinese economy if they don't figure out a solution.  The... "Field of Dreams - Build it and they will come.".... strategy has failed stupendously.  It's actually astonishing how badly that whole initiative has failed.

I think this is a common outcome of "business informed by ideology" of which most people I grew up with would have immediately said "Well, that'll never work." (Today, only to be virtue-signaled out of the conversation.)  Business will always self-correct... one way or another.  Many ideologues seem not to learn this lesson between generations...Their ideology is "different now" they always proclaim.