New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson/File)
The press release went on to quote professor Jonathan Zhu, a former supervisor, who said that "Elaine is the third generation of a journalist’s family in China, with her grandfather and father each playing a distinguished role in the respective eras of the nation’s history."
Fox News Digital can now exclusively confirm that this press release was referring to Fan Dongsheng, her father, and Fan Changjiang, her late grandfather.
When reached for comment on whether Elaine’s father influenced her to go into the media, Zhu confirmed to Fox News Digital that Dongsheng was her father and said, "Although I have never eyewitnessed what Fan Dongsheng told his daughter about career choice, his influence on her is obvious and imaginable."
He went on to say that Dongsheng visited the university that his daughter attended a "few times, including a talk to our faculty members and graduate students on his experience in launching and operating Huasheng Monthly, one of the earliest online news websites in China."
Prior to jumping into state government in 2014 as the "Queens Borough Director & Citywide Asian American Affairs" for Stringer’s comptroller office, Elaine was the "Chief Reporter" for Ming Pao Daily News for almost a decade between 2005 and 2015, according to her Linkedin profile.
A few years before she joined the media outlet, the Jamestown Foundation, a nonpartisan defense policy think tank, sounded the alarm about the media outlet being "heavily influenced" by the Chinese government and revealed that sources told them that the Chinese Consulate in New York was their "true boss."
This would not be the first time that someone from the Fan family would work for a media outlet influenced by the Chinese government. Fan’s father served as the president and editorial director of China Press, or Qiaobao, in New York between 1999 and 2005, according to multiple archived online bios.
China's national flag (Adek Berry)
"More concerning for New York City's voters, she appears to be actively involved in the party's United Front system, which seeks to promote the party's preferences and control both within and without the PRC. She has given speeches at events organized by the PRC Consulate in New York that celebrate United Front organizations in the city," he continued. "These events call for promoting reunification with Taiwan as well as advocating for the ‘motherland’ and its interests. To have somebody whom PRC diplomats clearly view favorably in such a senior role in New York politics should be cause for concern."
Elaine Fan's late grandfather joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1939 and had leadership roles at multiple state-owned media outlets, including as the editor-in-chief of the Xinhua News Agency, deputy director of the General Administration of Information and president of the People's Daily News Agency, according to multiple bios on Baidu. In addition to her father and grandfather, Fan's uncle, Fan Xiaojian, joined the CCP in 1976 and has held multiple roles in the CCP, including as the chief economist and director of the finance department of the ministry of agriculture between 1998 and 2000.
He was also a delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and was a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which Fox News Digital previously reported was "designed to liaise with non-Communist Party members – and ultimately see them work with the CCP to advance its interests," according to a 2021 report from The Diplomat.
During her tenure in the Hochul administration, Elaine attended several events hosted by the Chinese Consulate in New York City and multiple groups that make up China's United Front, which works to "co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling," according to a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images/File)
Sun’s lawyers have repeatedly denied the charges, but the indictment revealed some damning communications between Sun and Huang Ping, who left his role as the consul general of the New York City Chinese consulate weeks after the indictment against Sun was announced.
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Fox News Digital has extensively reported on Ping, who was spotted making visits to top universities, speaking with elected officials and carousing with top media outlets despite his long history of pushing CCP narratives and publicly denying human rights violations against China's Uyghur population. The unsealed indictment revealed that a speechwriter for then-Lt. Gov. Hochul wanted to mention the "Uyghur situation" in China for her 2021 Lunar New Year message, but the plight of the minority group being persecuted by the Chinese government was ultimately omitted after Sun overruled the speechwriter.
The indictment says Sun revealed to Ping what the speechwriter wanted to include but insisted that she would not let her boss mention Uyghurs after admitting that she was "starting to lose her temper" with the speechwriter. Ping appeared to chalk up the speechwriter’s suggestion as a clueless American who had never visited China and that U.S.-China relations could "sour" because of "people like the speechwriter," the indictment said, prompting Sun to concur that the speechwriter had never visited China. Ping would go on to post Hochul’s Lunar New Year message days later on his Facebook page, which did not mention Uyghurs.
Fox News Digital reached out to Fan and Hochul's office but did not receive a response.
Cameron Cawthorne is a politics editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Cameron.Cawthorne@Fox.com and on Twitter: @cam_cawthorne
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-former-hochul-aides-unearthed-family-connections-to-ccp-raises-alarm-bells