In 2018, in response to a tweet that suggested Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell “wants a war” over the Second Amendment, Swalwell posted, “And it would be a short war, my friend.”
“The government has nukes. Too many of them. But they’re legit,” he added. “I’m sure if we talked we could find common ground to protect our families and communities.”
Swalwell’s comments threatening gun owners with nukes may have been just that — threats. Thankfully, he does not have the power to carry them out.
However, he may have handed over some serious ammunition to the Chinese Communist Party in the form of his former fundraiser and alleged lover, Christine Fang, better known as Fang Fang.
For those who may not remember, Fang is believed to have been part of a Chinese intelligence operation targeting up-and-coming political stars in California and around the U.S.
According to intelligence officials, Fang infiltrated political circles through “campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors,” Axios reported in 2020.
Enter Swalwell. Fang helped fundraise for his 2014 re-election campaign and facilitated the placement of at least one intern in the congressman’s office, according to Axios.
In 2015, federal investigators warned Swalwell about Fang, which led him to cut ties with her. Meanwhile, Fang fled the country amid the increasing pressure.
Do you think Swalwell passed national secrets to Fang?
Unsurprisingly, Swalwell has refused to say whether he had a sexual relationship with Fang. In 2020, then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Swalwell staffers told his team that information may be “classified,” according to the Daily Mail.
Now, Fang is back in the picture.
A photo posted on X shows her meeting with Hu Xijin, the influential and outspoken editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a Chinese tabloid published by the CCP’s official People’s Daily newspaper.
I had lunch with this lady today. Her name is Fang Fang, and US media called her a “suspected Chinese spy.”
🔹In 2009, she went to study in 🇺🇸and did a lot of work to promote personnel exchanges between China & US in those years.
🔹In 2015, the CIA & FBI approached her, asked… pic.twitter.com/m0AbtXYxPI— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) March 13, 2024
According to The Guardian, Hu is Beijing’s most prominent propagandist, adept at steering narratives and fanning deeply anti-American, hyper-nationalist sentiment among the Chinese populace.
Hu posted the picture of himself and Fang on Wednesday and directly contradicted the U.S. counterintelligence narrative that she was a Chinese operative who cultivated ties with American politicians like Swalwell for intelligence purposes.
“I had lunch with this lady today. Her name is Fang Fang, and US media called her a ‘suspected Chinese spy,’” Hu wrote.
“In 2009, she went to study in [the U.S.] and did a lot of work to promote personnel exchanges between China & US in those years,” he continued.
“In 2015, the CIA & FBI approached her, asked her to ‘cooperate.’ The FBI used coercion & inducement, offering to give her [U.S.] citizenship and $1 million, requiring her to work for them or else they would ‘ruin her.’
“3 days after the FBI had a showdown with her, she fled [the U.S.] alone and returned to China, her motherland.
“She told me: ‘I just don’t want to betray my motherland. I don’t want to be an American spy. That’s my bottom line as a person.’
“She went to [the U.S.] with dreams, but in the end, her dreams were shattered. It was the US that shamelessly betrayed this exceptional girl’s dream for it.”
The meeting between Fang and the powerful editor of a Chinese state-controlled media outlet is concerning for multiple reasons.
By giving Fang a platform to accuse the FBI of using heavy-handed tactics against her, Hu is providing ready-made propaganda fodder for the Chinese government to use to undermine U.S. intelligence and investigative agencies.
But, with Fang apparently eager to prove her loyalty to the “motherland,” there are even graver implications.
If she did indeed extract sensitive information from Swalwell — formerly a member of the House Intelligence Committee — it raises the chilling prospect that these secrets are now in the hands of the CCP and its state media apparatus to use or expose at will.
Swalwell may prefer nukes to guns, but right now, he’s probably sweating bullets.
