Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s 2021 campaign received over $300,000 in support from a fundraiser with direct ties to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and intelligence agency, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation revealed. The man behind the fundraising, Gary Yu — also known as Yu Guoliang — is listed as an official by the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a key CCP agency used to exert political influence abroad.
Yu, founder of Boston International Media Consulting and a leader in multiple Chinese civic associations, helped coordinate campaign fundraising events for Wu. The New England Chinese American Alliance (NECCA), which Yu co-chairs, claimed to have raised over $300,000 for Wu’s mayoral campaign and organized canvassing efforts that reached beyond Massachusetts to over 30 states nationwide.
The UFWD, described by U.S. authorities as a political warfare arm of the CCP, conducts foreign influence operations, including talent recruitment, propaganda, and efforts to sway local and state politicians in democratic countries. Yu has met with top Chinese officials multiple times and participated in webinars with ACFROC — a UFWD affiliate involved in establishing an illegal Chinese police station in New York City.
In addition to his political fundraising, Yu has agreed to headhunt U.S. talent for various Chinese regional governments, including in high-tech and artificial intelligence sectors. The Organization Department that oversees these efforts also runs the controversial Thousand Talents Plan, a CCP program previously cited in U.S. national security investigations for intellectual property theft and espionage.
Yu has donated nearly $50,000 to Massachusetts Democrats since 2018, including thousands to Wu, Governor Maura Healey, and State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, who later appointed Yu to her transition team and as a commissioner on the state’s Asian American and Pacific Islanders Commission.
Experts warn that the CCP is exploiting civic networks and political campaigns at the local level to gain long-term influence over U.S. governance. “Xi Jinping considers United Front work a critical tool to undermine democracies,” said Michael Lucci, CEO of State Armor. “We need to stop letting them get away with it.”
Mayor Wu’s office, Yu, and associated organizations did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
