Laurence Wilson – a senior aide to President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra – accepted a trip to China sponsored by a leading Chinese Communist Party-linked propaganda group flagged by for its efforts to coerce American leaders to “take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing,” The National Pulse can reveal.
Wilson – who currently serves as the Scheduling & Advance Representative to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary – previously worked as the National Advance Lead on Biden’s presidential campaign.
Posts unearthed from Wilson’s social media accounts reveal the Biden official participated in a 2015 delegation to China sponsored by the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) as an advisor to a cohort of college students.
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 notes the country weaponizes “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.
As revealed in 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.
The delegation was the result of collaboration between CUSEF and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which counts membership from most officials in Congress including Rep. Ilhan Omar, and prior to becoming Vice President, the Indian-Jamaican origin Kamala Harris. The program – the African American Students Exchange Program – was inaugurated in 2012 and operates “in cooperation with the Congressional Black Caucus.” Since its inception, it has hosted over 750 students and is “funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education.”
The National Pulse has previously revealed, through testimonials from trip participants posted on the CUSEF website, students praising China as an “amazing communist country” upon returning to the U.S.:
“I learned that the culture and history of China far exceeds those of the United States – exceeds it so well, it’s predicted that China will be the #1 country of foreign policy and investments in less than 20 years. Open your eyes and your mind, research for yourself and don’t be corrupted by the misinterpretation the classrooms feed us.
God knew that I needed to participate in this program. He saw me fit to be one of the 20 students that will help spread the positive light of an amazing communist country as well as help bridge that gap between the China-US cultural exchanges.”
Wilson thanked CUSEF for “inviting” him on the delegation as an advisor on Instagram, adding that the trip was “all expenses paid”:
To the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the China-US Student Exchange Foundation, thank you for inviting me and allowing me to make an impact in the lives of others. I would also like to thank my Co-Advisor Maisha and the 20 amazing students for keeping me on my toes and being the intelligent, respectful and great individuals you are. In closing, I strongly urge all folks to travel to another country and soak in other cultures especially African-Americans who mostly don’t get opportunities of this magnitude with all expenses paid.
Wilson’s account also contains posts from events including the closing banquet, opening ceremony, and sightseeing on Instagram and similarly tweeted about attending the CUSEF delegation.
In addition to serving in the Biden White House, Wilson’s other stints in Democratic politics include Raphael Warnock’s Georgia Senate campaign, Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, and the gun control advocacy group March For Our Lives.
