Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s campaign pocketed over $300,000 from a fundraiser with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s notorious influence operations, and she doesn’t seem to think Americans deserve an explanation.
At a Glance
- Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s 2021 campaign received over $300,000 from a fundraiser organized by Gary Yu, who has ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
- Yu is associated with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a CCP intelligence and recruitment agency known for influencing foreign politics
- China expert Gordon Chang has called for an investigation into the CCP’s ties to Yu and his connections to Mayor Wu
- Mayor Wu, a staunch anti-Trump figure, maintains Boston as a sanctuary city and has spent $650,000 in taxpayer funds defending her immigration policies
- Wu’s office has not responded to requests for comment regarding these concerning financial connections
Follow the Communist Money
While the American left constantly shrieks about “foreign interference” when it comes to their political opponents, they seem remarkably comfortable cashing checks from entities connected to America’s greatest geopolitical rival. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s campaign reportedly received over $300,000 from a fundraiser organized by Gary Yu, the co-chairman of the New England Chinese American Alliance (NECAA) who has troubling connections to the Chinese Communist Party’s influence machine. This isn’t some minor donor relationship – it’s a significant financial pipeline that demands serious scrutiny from federal authorities.
Yu isn’t just any fundraiser. He’s associated with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which isn’t some benign cultural exchange program – it’s literally a CCP intelligence and recruitment agency. The UFWD’s entire purpose is to recruit members of the Chinese diaspora for intelligence gathering and foreign influence operations. If that doesn’t set off alarm bells at the Justice Department, I don’t know what would.
A Pattern of Influence
The tentacles of this operation extend beyond just Mayor Wu. Gary Yu has contributed $45,515 to local Democratic politicians since 2018, including Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and State Auditor Diana DiZoglio. Yu’s business credentials read like a CCP operative’s dream resume – founder of Boston International Media Consulting, specializing in public relations for Chinese companies in North America, and a “U.S. talent recruiter” for several Chinese regional governments. If that job description doesn’t scream foreign influence operation, I don’t know what does.
“There is no ethnic Chinese official in America who is not targeted. It’s time for law enforcement to investigate the CCP’s ties to Gary Yu and Yu’s ties to Mayor Michelle Wu.” said Gordon Chang, China expert.
The House Select Committee on the CCP laid it out in clear terms in 2023, describing the United Front Work Department as engaging in “a unique blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations” designed to shape other countries’ policies toward China and gain access to advanced foreign technology. This is the exact playbook we’re seeing unfold in Boston, with a progressive mayor who champions open borders and vehemently opposes Trump’s immigration policies.
The Sanctuary City Connection
Mayor Wu’s politics make her a perfect target for CCP influence. She’s a vocal sanctuary city advocate who has spent $650,000 in taxpayer money just to prepare for a congressional hearing about her city’s immigration policies. Think about that – over half a million dollars just to explain why she’s undermining federal immigration law. And now we learn her campaign was bankrolled by someone with direct ties to a foreign adversary’s influence operations. Coincidence? I think not.
When confronted with these damning connections, Mayor Wu’s office has maintained radio silence. No comment, no explanation, no transparency for the people of Boston who deserve to know if their mayor is compromised by foreign influence. Instead, Wu doubles down on her sanctuary city rhetoric, proclaiming, “Come high water or hell—no matter who threatens to bring it—Boston has stood up for the people we love and the country we built.” The irony of claiming to stand up for America while accepting campaign funds linked to America’s greatest adversary seems completely lost on her.
Time for Accountability
The Department of Justice has already been asked to investigate Wu and other sanctuary city mayors for allegedly harboring illegal aliens. Now they need to add foreign influence operations to their inquiry. As Gordon Chang, a leading China expert, points out, “The Communist Party’s UFWD never rests.” Neither should our vigilance against their infiltration of American politics, especially when it comes with a $300,000 price tag attached to a mayor who actively undermines our immigration laws.
“United front work is a unique blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations that the Chinese Communist Party uses to shape its political environment, including to influence other countries’ policy toward the [People’s Republic of China] and to gain access to advanced foreign technology,” it wrote. “It is carried out by an extensive and well-documented network of organizations operating in parallel to the People’s Republic of China’s foreign ministry and intelligence services that seeks to influence universities, think tanks, civic groups, other prominent individuals and institutions, and public opinion broadly.”
Boston deserves better than a mayor who champions open borders while taking money linked to a regime that imprisons millions of its own citizens. The people of Massachusetts deserve answers about how deep this foreign influence runs in their Democratic leadership. And America deserves federal agencies that will investigate these connections with the same fervor they’d apply if the political affiliations were reversed. The deafening silence from Wu’s office speaks volumes about her priorities – and they don’t seem to include transparency or national security.
