Anti-Trump impeachment witness Noah Feldman met with a Chinese Communist Party think tank, The National Pulse can reveal.
The Harvard Law professor, who was called to testify by the Democrats in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, visited the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies (SIIS) and met with leaders from the state-run think tank.
A previously unreported press release, published in 2016, describes Feldman’s’ SIIS meeting:
“March 21: SIIS President Yang Jiemian meets with Prof. Noah Feldman of Harvard Law School. Dr. Shao Yuqun, Executive Director of the Center for American Studies also attend the meeting. The two sides talk about the relation between China’s domestic governance reform and its foreign policy as well as Sino-U.S. relations. Afterwards, Prof. Feldman shares ideas about the trend of international politics with SIIS young research fellows and graduate students.”
The think tank has extensive ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which aims “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party” and “influence foreign governments and other actors to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing’s preferred policies” according to the U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission.
The Vice-Chairman of the “highest-ranking entity overseeing” this effort sits on the think tank’s board, has repeatedly attended SIIS events including its 50th anniversary, hosted SIIS leaders at his events, and even funded research carried out by SIIS.
Tung is also the Founding Chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), which seeks to “effectively disseminate positive messages to the media, key influencers and opinion leaders, and the general public” regarding the Chinese Communist Party, according to Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings with the Department of Justice.
The National Pulse has previously revealed CUSEF sponsoring trips to China for mainstream corporate media outlets in exchange for “favorable coverage” – a program that SIIS has repeatedly participated in.
It is unclear what the precise date of the meeting was, since the press release isn’t specific.
