Pro-Beijing community groups in New York count Mayor Adams among their strongest supporters in the city.
An investigation into the campaign finances of New York’s Mayor Eric Adams, which resulted in charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal donations from abroad on Thursday, could strip China of an important friend in the United States.
Prosecutors allege that Adams took money from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official ahead of his 2021 campaign. Adams has already declared his innocence. City Hall did not immediately return a written request for comment.
Adams has been a successful example of the Communist Party building relationships deep within America and Newsweek reported last year on donations to his campaigns by groups in New York linked to China’s ruling party.
« Adams is just one target », said Cheryl Yu, China Studies Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a nonpartisan international affairs think tank.
Newsweek’s reporting has shown that it has been a mutually beneficial relationship maintained through proxies on both sides. In New York and other major U.S. cities, the Communist Party holds sway over hundreds of pro-Beijing groups, whose members help promote the Chinese government’s narrative on core issues including democratic freedoms in Hong Kong and the political status of Taiwan.
Winnie Greco, one of Adams’ closest aides, is the mayor’s strongest link to these myriad Chinese business and cultural nonprofits.
