Former top Hochul aide's unearthed family connections to Chinese Communist Party raises alarm bells

Yahoo

a day ago

A former senior aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul reportedly has deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party — sparking concern over foreign influence in US politics as she now serves as chief of staff to New York City mayoral candidate Scott Stringer.
Elaine Fan, who is also known as Fan Xiaojiang, is the daughter of a former Chinese journalist who held senior roles in the CCP's Central Propaganda Department and served as editor for state-run media outlets, including China Press, a Fox News Digital investigation revealed.
Her late grandfather, Fan Changjiang, also held influential positions with the CCP after joining in 1939.
'Her grandfather was one of the more prominent propagandists of the CCP's struggles from the 1930s onwards, while her father worked for a range of party publications managed under the central propaganda department in Beijing,' said Arran Hope, editor-in-chief of The Jamestown Foundation, a think-tank in Washington, DC.
'This included a stint in the United States, where her daughter now works as chief of staff to mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, following a stint as a reporter for another party outlet here. Fan has not distanced herself from her family legacy, quite the opposition.'
He told Fox News Digital that Fan has delivered speeches on behalf of the party, including one in 2017 at a journalism school in the People's Republic of China named after her grandfather.
'To have somebody whom PRC diplomats clearly view favorably in such a senior role in New York politics should be cause for concern,' Hope added.
Fan, who hails from Beijing, served as Hochul's director of Asian affairs between October 2021 and November 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also worked in Stringer's Big Apple comptroller's office and spent nearly a decade reporting for Ming Pao Daily News, a Chinese-language newspaper.
Since she started working for Stringer's long-shot mayoral campaign in August, she has banked more than $120,000, according to campaign finance filings.
Stringer did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment, while Hochul's office had no comment.
The latest revelation comes a year after Linda Sun, a high-ranking aide, who also served under the Democratic governor's administration, was charged with acting as a foreign agent for China in exchange for millions in kickbacks and lavish perks.
Sun, 41, who also worked for disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current Big Apple mayoral front-runner, was arrested with her husband, Christopher Hu, in September 2024 and indicted for laundering and splurging their corrupt gains on a flashy $4 million Long Island mansion, a $2 million second home in a Honolulu high-rise and luxury cars.
Sun was accused by the feds of using her position under both governors to turn the Albany office into a virtual mouthpiece for the People's Republic of China and the CCP.