Exclusives

EXCLUSIVE: Dem Darling Raked In Cash From Donors With Chinese Gov’t, CCP Intel Ties

[Wikimedia Commons/Public/Donghae Fang]

Donors with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its intelligence arms have contributed more than $100,000 to the political war chest of California Treasurer Fiona Ma, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.

Among the many donations, filings show the Democratic frontrunner in California’s 2026 lieutenant governor race accepted $2,500 in September 2022 from then-Arcadia mayoral candidate Eileen Wang, who is expected to plead guilty to charges of acting as an illegal agent of China in the coming weeks, according to the Department of Justice. Ma has been photographed alongside Wang at multiple California events and endorsed her mayoral candidacy in August 2022 — one month before receiving the campaign contribution, according to DCNF translations of Chinese media reports.

Ma and Wang did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

California’s two-term treasurer has met with officials from the Chinese government and an influence and intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department (UFWD) at least 30 times since 1999, the DCNF reported in May. The UFWD’s operations are a “blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations” that Beijing uses to steer foreign policy and “gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the House Select Committee on the CCP.

“This is how China seeks to co-opt U.S. lawmakers. It ‘floods the zone’ with United Front community groups to entangle American politicians in meetings, under the guise of legitimate community outreach and multiculturalism,” Sam Cooper, an investigative reporter and the author of “Wilful Blindness: How A Network Of Narcos, Tycoons and CCP Agents Infiltrated The West,” told the DCNF. “If the politician you are investigating is meeting frequently with groups confirmed to fall within that classification and receiving donations from them, that constitutes a grave concern for American democracy.”

The China-ties of California’s chief financial officer recently came under scrutiny following an April 2026 Politico report revealing that in September 2023 she offered to help secure U.S. internships and employment opportunities for students attending the Pegasus California School, which was founded in the coastal city of Qingdao by Ma’s campaign finance committee chair. Pegasus’ students, who are Chinese nationals, have allegedly received unlawful California high school diplomas through a partnership with the Val Verde Unified School District, according to a 2026 Riverside County Office of Education audit of the district, which did not accuse Ma of any wrongdoing.

[Image created by DCNF with photos from Fiona Ma campaign website, Chinese Daily, Mebo, Oriza Ventures, ACFROC, Florence Fang Community Farm, CCPIT, Sina, USZJGCC, Eric Zhang & Associates, Frazer Harrison via Getty Images, Canva and Grok]

‘Promise Of Money’

Individuals with ties to China’s government, military and intelligence agencies have repeatedly donated to Ma’s political coffers, which received just over $2 million in total contributions from all sources in 2025, according to California Secretary of State campaign filings.

“It is disgraceful to see the willful entanglements with CCP-tied entities by government and business elites that are blinded by the allure of the promise of money and jobs, particularly since they are ignoring the directives and warnings by our national security and intelligence agencies,” former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Cella told the DCNF.

Ma’s campaigns have accepted tens of thousands of dollars from UFWD-affiliated donors, such as Royal Business Bank’s co-founder Simon Pang, who has contributed $12,500 to Ma since 2018 and serves as the “Southern California coordinator” for a UFWD affiliate called the Chinese People’s Association For Friendship With Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the DCNF reported in July 2025. CPAFFC has “sought to directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote [China’s] global agenda,” the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center has warned.

California’s treasurer has been photographed interacting with Pang at multiple events including the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate’s January 2023 Chinese New Year celebration, Chinese government photos show.

Ma’s campaigns have also accepted tens of thousands of dollars from several individuals who are affiliated with CPAFFC and traveled to the organization’s Beijing headquarters with Pang in February 2016, according to campaign filings and DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.

Pang could not be reached for comment.

Filings also show Ma’s 2022 State Treasurer re-election campaign received $1,000 from businessman Xuan Guojun, who has held positions in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People’s Congress and multiple UFWD arms, the DCNF reported in July 2025. Authorities in California arrested Xuan in May 2025 for allegedly abusing his 21 children in the U.S. related to an apparent surrogacy scheme, however no charges have been filed.

Xuan also serves as the executive chairman of a California-based nonprofit called the U.S.-Zhejiang General Chamber of Commerce (USZJGCC), which donated $2,750 to Ma’s 2022 re-election. Tax documents identify USZJGCC as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, which are restricted from making political contributions, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The nonprofit is co-chaired by a supervisor for “China’s FBI,” the Ministry of Public Security, the DCNF reported in January 2025. Ma has participated in several USZJGCC events including an April 2023 webinar, according to DCNF translations of USZJGCC announcements.

Xuan and USZJGCC could not be reached for comment.

California Secretary of State filings also reveal that Ma’s lieutenant governor race has received $13,600 from Eric Zhang & Associates LLP, whose founder held a fundraiser for the career politician in January 2024, according to a DCNF translation of Chinese media.

The manager of that company’s Las Vegas office, Barry Zhang, was the registered agent for the now defunct Prestige Biotech Inc. (PBI) and another company connected to the alleged illegal biolabs that authorities discovered in Reedley, California in December 2022 and Las Vegas, Nevada in January 2026, business filings show.

While it is unclear if authorities recovered pathogens at the Nevada site, the California location contained “at least 20 potentially infectious agents,” according to a 2023 House Select Committee on the CCP investigation, which also said that PBI’s accountant worked for organizations headed by individuals “linked to CCP leadership and to the [UFWD].” Barry Zhang was the accountant referenced in that investigation, a committee spokesperson told the DCNF.

Eric Zhang & Associates and Barry Zhang did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Donors serving as members of other UFWD arms including the All-China Federation Of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC) and the China Overseas Friendship Association (COFA) have also contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Ma’s campaigns.

The American public should be aware that ACFROC and COFA may conduct “actual intelligence, espionage and criminal activity on American soil,” journalist Sam Cooper warned.

ACFROC overseas advisor and media mogul Florence Fang has donated $5,750 to Ma’s campaigns since 2004, filings show. Fang’s family owned the now defunct AsianWeek magazine, where Ma previously worked as a columnist, according to 2002 reporting by The San Francisco Examiner, which was also previously published by the Fangs.

Filings show Ma’s campaigns have likewise received $8,805 from Tina Yao, who serves as the executive director of COFA’s Jiangsu provincial branch, according to a DCNF translation of a UFWD announcement. Ma has presented at least two commendations to Yao since 2024 related to her work as the president of the American Yunnan General Chamber of Commerce (AYGCC), which is a California-based nonprofit where Ma’s late father served as honorary president, according to AYGCC’s website.

Fang and Yao did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Ma has also accepted campaign contributions from several venture capital firms that have invested in companies developing technology for China’s security state and military, including Oriza Ventures, which donated $12,000 to Ma’s lieutenant governor race, filings show. Oriza Ventures’ parent company is a Suzhou municipal government investment arm, which supports the CCP’s strategy to repurpose civilian technology for China’s military, according to a 2018 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative report.

Oriza Ventures could not be reached for comment.

China’s dictator Xi Jinping has “massively expanded the UFWD’s cadre system with the explicit purpose of weaponizing diaspora community groups in the U.S.,” Cooper said.

“The assigned task of those community group members is to surround and cultivate elected officials. In the more aggressive operations, my assessment is that the objective extends to ensnaring those officials in financial corruption,” Cooper added.

“When a politician accepts an award, a donation, or a speaking platform connected to organizations operating under the umbrella of these friendship and trade groups, a Chinese intelligence officer is, in my assessment, very likely involved in an influence operation designed to subvert American democracy. American voters deserve to know who funds and organizes the access events their elected representatives attend.”