State Department links left-leaning nonprofits to Chinese propaganda

The State Department told Congress this week that professional protest groups Code Pink and the People’s Forum are linked to Chinese influence operations.

The report issued to Congress, “Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference,” said that China spreads propaganda through campaigns run by far-left activists at Code Pink, the People’s Forum and other groups linked with the “notorious Singham network.”

Shanghai-based businessman and social activist Neville Roy Singham is married to Jodie Evans, a co-founder of Code Pink, and many donations to Code Pink come from groups linked to Mr. Singham.

While Mr. Singham says he does not work at the direction of the Chinese Communist Party, two outlets of a media network he owns “spread China’s voice to the world,” and he “works closely with the Chinese government media machine,” according to a 2023 New York Times investigation.

The State Department’s report said that China, along with Iran and Russia, aggressively uses state media, proxies and digital platforms to “spread propaganda and falsehoods, undermine U.S. credibility and policies, and expand their influence.”

Code Pink has also been criticized for echoing Chinese propaganda. 

“Organizations like Code Pink and the People’s Forum denigrate the United States, whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes, and run cover for China while enjoying an influx of cash from a donor network with connections to the Chinese Communist Party,” the State Department said on social media.

Code Pink co-founder Madea Benjamin told The Washington Times her response is, “Show us the proof.”

Code Pink, founded as an anti-war organization, has accused the U.S. of launching a “war on China,” hosting pro-China webinars and a “China Is Not Our Enemy” working group, according to the department.

The organization is no stranger to pro-China accusations.

Most recently, the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman held a Wednesday hearing on “malign foreign influence,” in which Code Pink was a subject of scrutiny.

Chairman Jason Smith, Missouri Republican, also sent letters to media entities funded by Mr. Singham, demanding records on their ties to Mr. Singham and alleging they promoted Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

In response, Code Pink said that the hearing was an attempt to “smear and discredit organizations that are actually amplifying the real voice of the people.” 

The organization pointed to committee Democrats’ comments that grassroots non-profits wield no “political leverage.”

“Their Republican counterparts who sat in the hearing willfully ignored the true threat: the elected officials who are routinely influenced and bankrolled by foreign interests to enact policies that harm everyday people,” Code Pink said.

Previously, the House Committee on Natural Resources launched an investigation of Code Pink’s finances as part of its probe into the Chinese Communist Party’s alleged manipulation of U.S. nonprofits in 2023.

Sen. Jim Banks, Indiana Republican, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi in April asking for an investigation of Code Pink because of “growing evidence of Code Pink’s deep connections with the CCP.”

In a statement Wednesday, Code Pink again insisted that it “receives no money from China or any foreign governments or political parties.”