The brother-in-law of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has repeatedly hosted diplomats working on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party at his office. (Getty/Consul General Chen Li via X)
The China Media Project went on to highlight how People's Daily Online "runs the Chinese Communist Party News Network" and requires applicants applying for jobs to "[love] the party," which refers to the CCP.
"People's Daily Online left its space at the Empire State Building nearly a decade ago," an Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) spokesperson told Fox News Digital about the former tenant's lease. "Air China, which is defined as a publicly traded company that is partially owned by the Chinese government, has an office at the Empire State Building, but is only about 3,000 square feet in the 7.8 million square feet of our office portfolio."
However, a multinational Hong Kong-based group called Li & Fung Ltd, whose chairman has multiple CCP ties, reportedly rented the largest office space from Malkin, according to the 2011 China Daily article. While Li & Fung no longer has the largest office space, it is still currently a tenant of the ESRT, according to financial data reviewed by Fox News Digital. A 2024 ESRT report lists the Chinese company occupying over 149,000 square feet, having multiple leases ending in October 2028 and an annual rent of over $8.3 million.
A Fox News Digital review found that Victor Fung, who has played an instrumental leadership role for several years with the company that his grandfather founded, was a longtime member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) between 2003 and 2018 and is currently serving as a vice chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF). He was also reportedly one of the business executives who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last year to lay out his vision for Hong Kong becoming a supply chain center for Chinese businesses.
The CPPCC is the "key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation" under the leadership of the CCP, according to the CPPCC website. CUSEF is the CCP front group founded by Tung Chee-hwa, who served as a vice chair of the CPPCC and has colluded with U.S. leaders to gain influence. Fox News Digital previously exposed how Julia Wilson, a Black public relations consultant, was paid over $1 million by Chee-hwa's CUSEF to help the Chinese government learn about Black Americans and gain influence with Black universities and leaders.
SCHUMER SPOTTED POSING FOR PHOTO WITH CCP OFFICIAL AS WARNINGS SWIRL ABOUT CHINA INFLUENCE
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut and chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A couple of months later, Chen posted photos and a video of the Empire State Building and touted how "NYC’s icon will Turn CHINESE RED for the 25th consecutive year TONIGHT!"
Chen, like his predecessor Huang Ping, has repeatedly praised the CCP and denied China’s alleged genocide against the Uyghur population, which has been condemned by many on the world stage, including the United Nations. Malkin also had a cozy relationship with Ping while he served as the Chinese consul general between 2018 and late 2024.
Michael Sobolik, an expert on U.S.-China relations and a Hudson Institute senior fellow, told Fox News Digital that the "Chinese Communist Party is always looking for ways to penetrate U.S. businesses and civil society. We shouldn’t make their job easier for them."
Ping’s exit from the position occurred shortly after he was referenced dozens of times in an unsealed indictment against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, Linda Sun, who was charged "with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy," according to a Justice Department press release.
Huang Ping meets with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. (China Consulate of New York)
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In 2023, the Chinese Consulate shared multiple photos of Ping and Malkin at the Empire State Building with the caption, "Chinese Consulate General in NY and [Empire State Building] held a Chinese New Year Lighting Ceremony today, to celebrate the [Year of the Rabbit] CG Huang Ping and ESB Chairman Mr. Anthony Malkin attended the event and together lit up the building with Chinese Red."
Malkin and Ping also met in 2019 to light up the Empire State Building in honor of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which was amplified by Chinese state media.
Prior to Ping serving as the Chinese consul general, Malkin repeatedly met with then-Consul General Zhang Qiyue, who previously served in several top CCP positions, including the deputy director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2017, Qiyue and Malkin smilingly posed for a photo ahead of the lighting of the Empire State Building to celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. They also met in 2015 and 2016 to light up the Empire State Building to celebrate the Lunar New Year, a Fox News Digital review found.
Sun Guoxiang, who served as a consul general between 2011 and 2014 in New York and held multiple CCP titles, also repeatedly visited the Empire State Building. In a 2014 ESRT press release, the group said, "To kick-off the festivities, Ambassador Sun Guoxiang, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in New York, will preside over a lighting ceremony." Jean-Yves Ghazi, who currently serves as the president of the ESRT Observatory TRS, L.L.C., appears to have been the ESRT executive who oversaw that lighting.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
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