{"id":2472718,"date":"2025-08-09T07:40:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T11:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-rep-was-affiliated-with-multiple-ccp-run-groups\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T07:41:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T11:41:03","slug":"democratic-rep-was-affiliated-with-multiple-ccp-run-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-rep-was-affiliated-with-multiple-ccp-run-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic rep was affiliated with multiple CCP-run groups"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocratic-rep-was-affiliated-with-multiple-ccp-run-groups%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2472718&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>This article reports that Maryland Democratic Delegate Chao Wu, born in Hubei, China, and serving since 2023, was previously president of the University of Maryland&#8217;s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) chapter-a group identified by the U.S. State Department as controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to monitor and influence Chinese students abroad. Wu&#8217;s archived LinkedIn profile also indicates past affiliation with China&#8217;s Thousand Talents Program, which U.S. authorities have flagged as a CCP-backed industrial espionage initiative aiming to acquire foreign technologies.<\/p>\n<p>Despite thes ties,Wu has held positions within the U.S.federal government and at Maryland Aerospace, a defense contractor involved in <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >sensitive military projects including drone technology<\/a>. The CSSA has been linked to CCP efforts to suppress dissent and conduct intelligence operations on campuses worldwide, while the Thousand Talents program has been associated with intellectual property theft and spying. Wu&#8217;s leadership of a CCP-aligned student group, combined with his later roles in government and defense, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinas-purchase-of-u-s-farmland-near-air-force-base-a-national-security-concern\/\" title=\"...&#039;s Purchase of U.S. Farmland Near Air Force Base a ... Security Concern\">raises national security concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The article also notes Wu&#8217;s previous involvement in local Maryland government, including facilitating a sister city relationship with a Chinese city-a practice criticized for perhaps advancing CCP foreign policy. amidst these revelations, Wu and the Maryland Democratic Party have not responded to requests for comment. Wu narrowly won his seat in 2022 and faces reelection in 2026. National security experts urge American politicians to strongly oppose CCP influence operations, especially those targeting Chinese diaspora communities and sensitive industries.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democratic state representative headed CCP front group in college<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2144771\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Democratic Delegate <a href=\"https:\/\/msa.maryland.gov\/msa\/mdmanual\/06hse\/html\/msa18498.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Chao Wu<\/a> was born in Hubei, China, and has been a member of the Maryland House of Delegates since January 2023, where he serves on the Ways and Means Committee. Prior to attaining elected office, he served as president of the University of Maryland&rsquo;s chapter of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chaowu2009\/details\/education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Chinese Students and Scholars Association<\/a>, and an <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130412185104\/https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chaowu2009\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">archived version<\/a> of his LinkedIn page shows that he was once affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party&rsquo;s Thousand Talents Program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The CSSA was established to &ldquo;monitor Chinese students and mobilize them against views that dissent from the CCP,&rdquo; and its individual chapters are overseen by the CCP&rsquo;s United Front Work Department, a global network of party loyalists tasked with gathering intelligence and exerting influence, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/CCP-on-campus-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">according<\/a> to the State Department. The Thousand Talents Program, meanwhile, has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/investigate\/counterintelligence\/the-china-threat\/chinese-talent-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">flagged by the FBI<\/a> as a Chinese government-backed industrial espionage operation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3493448\/complaints-army-corps-los-angeles-fire-cleanup-efforts\/\">Complaints pour in over Army Corps&#8217; Los Angeles fire cleanup efforts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3492496\/opeiu-pesp-business-watchdog-union-lobbying\/\">This union cut a check to a business watchdog. Weeks later, they were doing its bidding&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3491976\/neh-grants-gay-comic-book-liberal-projects-trump-cuts\/\">NEH rushed grants for gay comic book research and liberal projects before Trump cuts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Wu&rsquo;s tenure as president of the University of Maryland&rsquo;s CSSA chapter occurred while he was working on an engineering doctorate at the institution in the early 2000s. The length of Wu&rsquo;s affiliation with the Thousand Talents Program, which is listed on an archived version of his LinkedIn page from 2013 as the &ldquo;Thousand Talents Plan Overseas Talent Exchange Circle,&rdquo; is unknown.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>What is known, however, is that despite Wu&rsquo;s links to two established CCP influence groups, he landed jobs within the federal government and at firms dealing in sensitive technologies.<\/p>\n<p>One of Wu&rsquo;s first jobs after completing his doctorate was as a software development fellow at the Obama administration&rsquo;s Food and Drug Administration. Shortly after that, he moved on to work as a senior electrical engineer at Maryland Aerospace, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/search?hash=12bc50166f29d5de038bd4abafc88001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">midsize defense contractor<\/a> working on projects for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and NASA.<\/p>\n<p>The CSSA&rsquo;s links to the Chinese government were hardly unknown at the time, leaving little excuse for how Wu ended up working both in the federal government and as a defense contractor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Around the time Wu was heading the University of Maryland&rsquo;s CSSA chapter, another CSSA chapter was embroiled in a massive industrial espionage scandal. In 2005, an investigation conducted by the French newspaper <em>Le Monde<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/asia-pacific\/4704691.stm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">found<\/a> that a CSSA chapter had served as the hub for a &ldquo;Belgian-based economic espionage network&rdquo; that included &ldquo;hundreds of Chinese spies working at various levels of European industry.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wu&rsquo;s affiliation with the Thousand Talents Program is also potentially problematic in relation to his work as a government official and defense contractor. According to the FBI, the CCP pushes members of its talent programs &ldquo;to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prominent-chinese-communist-party-members-serve-on-board-of-yale-beijing-center\/\" title=\"Prominent ... Members Serve on Board of Yale Beijing Center\">steal foreign technologies needed<\/a> to advance China&rsquo;s national, military, and economic goals.&rdquo; Often, members of the programs are required to share trade secrets with the CCP, subject themselves to Chinese laws, and recruit other individuals, usually their colleagues, into the program.<\/p>\n<p>The risks associated with the Thousand Talents Program aren&rsquo;t purely hypothetical. Law enforcement has caught members of the initiative <a href=\"https:\/\/news.clearancejobs.com\/2023\/05\/01\/chinas-thousand-talents-program-harvests-u-s-technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">stealing<\/a> American <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osi.af.mil\/News\/Features\/Display\/Article\/2359612\/a-case-of-economic-espionage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">military technology<\/a>, and the National Institutes of Health had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/has-it-peaked-i-don-t-know-nih-official-details-foreign-influence-probe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">dozens of open investigations<\/a> into the behavior of individuals associated with the program as of June 2020. The value of intellectual property <a href=\"https:\/\/news.clearancejobs.com\/2023\/05\/01\/chinas-thousand-talents-program-harvests-u-s-technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">stolen<\/a> by those involved in the Thousand Talents Program has, in some cases, approached <a href=\"https:\/\/ixn-dispatch.ghost.io\/chinas-thousand-talents-program-ttp-and-counterespionage-implications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">$1 billion<\/a>. Some Chinese-born scientists have faced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelantern.com\/2020\/11\/former-ohio-state-researcher-pleads-guilty-for-lying-to-fbi-about-ties-to-chinese-government\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">legal consequences<\/a> for failing to disclose their ties to the program.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Delegates gather on the floor in the House Chamber for a session of the Maryland General Assembly at the State Capitol in Annapolis, Md, Wednesday, Jan 11, 2024. (AP Photo\/Bryan Woolston)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During his time at Maryland Aerospace, Wu worked on &ldquo;the design, simulation, and control of small satellites and UAVs.&rdquo; Drone technology has since become a point of contention between the United States and China.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;American politicians should strongly oppose the Chinese Communist Party&rsquo;s broad and malicious political warfare within the U.S. &mdash; especially when it targets the Chinese diaspora community,&rdquo; Michael Lucci, CEO of the national security organization State Armor, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;Yet Delegate Wu led an arm of one of these influence operations as president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of Maryland. Our State Department has identified CSSAs as an arm of Beijing&rsquo;s influence operations used to crush campus dissent against the CCP and to steal intellectual property. And Thousand Talents Program schemes, with which Delegate Wu has past affiliations, are direct attempts to steal American intellectual property. Delegate Wu should minimally condemn these past associations that spread malicious CCP influence into American society.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wu and the Maryland Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Maryland House of Delegates was not Wu&rsquo;s first foray into American political life. Before heading to Annapolis, Wu worked in local government in Columbia, Maryland, where he played a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2018\/06\/15\/columbia-poised-to-add-chinas-liyang-as-sister-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">key role<\/a> in striking a sister city agreement with Liyang, China. China hawks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/china-rekindles-sister-city-ties-as-relations-remain-strained-\/7491035.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">accuse<\/a> the CCP of leveraging sister city agreements to advance its foreign policy aims. House Republicans have even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/house-bill\/2724?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22sister+city+transparency%22%7D&amp;s=1&amp;r=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">introduced legislation<\/a> that would place greater scrutiny on such relationships.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3478895\/alumni-of-ccp-controlled-group-senior-positions-sensitive-industries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>ALUMNI OF CCP-CONTROLLED GROUP HOLD SENIOR POSITIONS IN SENSITIVE INDUSTRIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In recent months, Wu has been critical of the Trump administration on social media.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Actions by those so-called patriots are intentionally or unintentionally damaging the country,&rdquo; he wrote in April. &ldquo;How ironic!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wu only won his seat by <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Maryland_House_of_Delegates_District_9A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">0.1% of the vote<\/a> in 2022. He is up for reelection in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2144771\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2144771\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic Delegate Chao Wu once led a CCP-linked student group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":894,"featured_media":2472719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Xi-Jinping-China-uu1778.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[51019,36991,32923,60960,43901],"class_list":["post-2472718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ccp-2","tag-china-influence","tag-democratic-party","tag-government-groups","tag-political-affiliation"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Xi-Jinping-China-uu1778.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2472718"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2472723,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472718\/revisions\/2472723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2472719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2472718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2472718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2472718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}