Former Senator Cory Gardner – an establishment Republican and frequent critic of the MAGA agenda – is partnering with a premier Chinese Communist Party-linked influence group flagged by the U.S. government for its efforts to coerce American leaders to “take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing.”
Gardner, who called on Donald Trump to drop out of the 2016 presidential race and declared he would not vote for the candidate, is joining the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) less than one year after losing his Senate seat.
The former Colorado Senator is headlining a CUSEF webinar – “What to Expect from the Upcoming Biden-Xi Virtual Summit” – alongside Tsinghua University Professor Chen Qi. The alma mater of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, Tsinghua University has a history of launching cyberattacks against the U.S. government.
CUSEF was founded by the Vice-Chairman of the “highest-ranking entity overseeing” China’s United Front, which the U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission identifies as Beijing’s effor “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party” and “influence foreign governments to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing.”
CUSEF has deployed this tactic on American journalists and former Congressmen, offering free trips to the country in exchange for “favorable coverage,” according to Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings. The trips function as part of a broader effort to “effectively disseminate positive messages to the media, key influencers and opinion leaders, and the general public” regarding the Chinese Communist Party.
