Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) dealings with Chinese communists may be coming back to haunt him during his run to be the next governor of the state of California.
A previously unreported 2013 Facebook post by China’s San Francisco consulate — unearthed by Fox News Digital — shows then-freshman Swalwell touting “great potential” for U.S.-China cooperation, according to a report by the outlet Saturday.
The Bay Area lawmaker’s comment came following a meeting with a senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) diplomat during the same time when Swalwell was allegedly targeted by Chinese espionage efforts by a suspected female spy.
According to the report:
The 2013 photo, which was unearthed by Fox News Digital and “liked” by Christine “Fang Fang” Fang, a Chinese national who was suspected of being a Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) operative and who was reportedly working closely with Swalwell’s campaign helping with fundraising, showed Swalwell posing with Song Ru’an.
At the time of the photo, Ru’an was the Deputy Consul General at China’s Bay Area consulate in San Francisco. He would subsequently be tapped to serve as the Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in Hong Kong until at least 2021.
“The United States and China have a lot in common and the two economies are highly complementary,” Swalwell said at the meeting according to the picture’s caption. “There are (sic) great potential for the two countries to cooperate. I will work actively to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and I’m looking forward to visiting China in the near future.”
The revelation of the photo comes two weeks after Fox News Digital reported that Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign recently received nearly $10,000 from the California-based office of DeHeng Law — allegedly “a top Beijing law firm that has deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”
Ru’an in the past has supported interests contrary to American priorities, according to the most recent Fox report.
As one of China’s leading officials in Hong Kong between 2015 and 2021 he criticized a 2019 human rights act aimed at protecting dissidents from authoritarian reprisals. Ru’an reportedly emerged as a central figure in a national security crackdown, according to the outlet.
Swalwell was serving on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), which dealt with sensitive national security matters, when news broke of his ties to Fang Fang, the attractive Chinese national who “liked” the photo posted in 2013 of Swalwell and Ru’an.
U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that Beijing uses diplomats and influence networks to cultivate relationships with American politicians.
“Swalwell met Fang Fang when he was on the city council,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “He continued a long relationship with her and she would direct him. She directed interns in his office.”
“And it wasn’t just Swalwell who had knowledge of her,” McCarthy added. “I believe people in his family became friends with her as well. But his activity and his behavior is very disturbing.”
As Breitbart News reported back in 2023, McCarthy, when he became House Speaker, said Swalwell’s “relationship with a Chinese spy” disqualified him from sitting on the intelligence committee.
McCarthy ultimately removed the lawmaker from the committee.
At the time, Swalwell denied any wrongdoing calling the move “political vengeance” and retribution for serving as a manager on the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump during his first term.
Swalwell’s team declined comment on the consulate photo and story, according to Fox.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
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