China-linked leftist group calls for anti-war protests

The People’s Forum, one of two leftist domestic groups identified by the State Department as linked to China, called Saturday for holding mass protests against the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.

The New York-based group announced on social media an emergency day of action in the city.

“The U.S. and Israel are carrying out an unprovoked, illegal bombing campaign on Iran,” the forum stated in a post. “This war serves no one but a tiny elite and oil executives and is a continuation of more than two years of genocide in Palestine and US-Israeli aggressions [throughout] the region.”

The post called for joining its members on the street to “say NO to another U.S. war for empire!”

The People’s Forum was identified this month by Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, as part of Chinese Communist Party foreign influencers supporting U.S. left-wing activists.

A second leftist group, Code Pink, is also part of the operations, she said.

“Partisan hacks spent years peddling the phony Russia collusion hoax while turning a blind eye to the sprawling web of far-left activist organizations who push the agendas of the Chinese Communist Party,” Ms. Rogers said in a statement.

She added, “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 undersecretary said the State Department is pursuing “complete transparency” regarding the donor and nongovernmental organization networks that “lobby for our adversaries and seek to weaken the resolve of the United States.”

A State Department official confirmed the official’s statement after it was first reported by the New York Post.

The State Department also supplied a report to Congress this month called “Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.”

The report states that China spreads anti-U.S. propaganda “through influence campaigns run by nonprofit organizations like Code Pink, the People’s Forum and groups linked with the notorious Singham network.”

That refers to a network of leftist and activist groups backed by Shanghai-based American tech businessman Neville Roy Singham, who congressional investigators say has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Mr. Singham is married to Jodie Evans, co-founder of Code Pink. The Singham network denies taking Chinese money.

Rep. Jason Smith, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said during a hearing Feb. 10 that the People’s Forum is an American tax-exempt group that “hosts events and courses pushing [Chinese] Communist Party propaganda.”

The group also has incited violent protests and riots, including disruptive occupations of buildings on college campuses, he said. People’s Forum also publicly supported Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, raid on Israel, the Missouri Republican said.

“One of their largest donors is a wealthy former U.S. tech executive living in Shanghai who is cozy — extremely cozy — with the Chinese Communist Party,” Mr. Smith said.

Mr. Singham and his wife donated over $20 million to the People’s Forum through shell companies and donor funds that sought to hide the original source of the funding, Mr. Smith said.

The State Department report to Congress said Chinese diplomats, state media and pro-China influencers operate through social media, content-sharing agreements and local partnerships that publish pro-CCP propaganda.

“China invests in [public diplomacy], exchanges, reporting tours, and educational and cultural initiatives to boost its image,” the report said.

“The Department assesses that China, Iran, and Russia aggressively use state media, proxies, and digital platforms to spread propaganda and falsehoods, undermine U.S. credibility and policies, and expand their influence.”

The People’s Forum has praised the Chinese communist revolution and has studied the Marxist-Leninist revolt that brought the CCP to power in 1949 as a potential model for revolutionary communists in the U.S., the report said.

The group also once hosted a three-part lesson on the revolution meant for those “who aim to study revolutionary processes in order to make one!” and organized pro-Nicolas Maduro protests in the wake of the ousted Venezuelan dictator’s capture by U.S. forces. 

The People’s Forum does not identify as a communist or Marxist-Leninist group. Instead, it describes itself as “progressive.”

“The ideology we are fed in most schools and institutions is ruling class ideology, and this does not further our struggle or serve the needs of the working class,” its website states.

The group’s ideology is focused on arming people for “class struggle” and providing political education for “liberation,” the website says.