A bombshell report has exposed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s administration as a revolving door for Chinese Communist Party-linked donors—leaving Americans to wonder just how deep foreign influence runs in U.S. city halls.
At a Glance
- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass accepted over $1 million in donations from two bankers tied to Chinese intelligence groups.
- Dominic Ng and Simon Pang, the donors, were appointed to Bass’s transition advisory team after supporting her campaign and nonprofit.
- Both men have documented connections to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, a government influence arm.
- Bass’s office has refused to answer questions, and no investigation has begun despite mounting public pressure.
Donations from Chinese-Linked Bankers Raise Red Flags in Los Angeles
Reports have revealed that between 2019 and 2022, Dominic Ng—CEO of East West Bank—and Simon Pang—co-founder of Royal Business Bank—funneled upward of $1 million into both Karen Bass’s mayoral campaign and the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, a nonprofit where Bass serves as an advisor. According to investigative journalists, both Ng and Pang have ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), an organization that U.S. intelligence has repeatedly flagged as a front for Chinese influence operations. The outcry isn’t about a few bucks from a neighborhood banker; it’s about the kind of sums and connections that should have every American on alert.
After pocketing these donations, Bass appointed Ng and Pang to her transition advisory team in December 2022. This raised immediate concerns among experts and watchdogs. The UFWD’s mission is to infiltrate foreign political systems, and now its alleged proxies were handed direct access to the mayor’s inner circle. The fact that Bass’s administration didn’t think twice about these appointments—despite years of warnings from U.S. officials—shows a staggering disregard for basic vetting and national security. When pressed, East West Bank admitted Ng’s participation in two Chinese government organizations but denied involvement in a third, while Royal Business Bank and Pang simply declined to comment.
Chinese Influence Operations: Not a Theoretical Threat
The United Front Work Department is not some shadowy conspiracy theory; U.S. government and academic experts have consistently identified it as a leading arm of Beijing’s global influence campaign. The UFWD’s job is to cultivate relationships with political and business leaders abroad, often through donations, business ties, and nonprofit involvement. By the time these “donors” were installed on Bass’s transition team, the writing was on the wall for anyone who bothers to pay attention: foreign influence doesn’t just happen in D.C.—it’s alive and well in America’s biggest cities.
The controversy deepened in June 2025, when media outlets reported that the UFWD had “penetrated” Bass’s administration even further, citing the appointment of Adam Ma—a city official whose father is a known CCP official and fundraiser for Bass. China expert Gordon Chang slammed the mayor’s team as “wide-open” to CCP manipulation, warning that the real danger isn’t just money changing hands but that foreign agents are being handed the keys to local government. Instead of answering for these decisions, Bass’s office continues to stonewall, as if silence will make the problem vanish.
Bass Administration’s Silence and the Erosion of Public Trust
Mayor Bass and her administration have refused to directly address the allegations, ignoring requests for comment from multiple outlets. This kind of stonewalling is exactly why Americans are sick and tired of politicians who treat transparency as an afterthought. What does it say when the only answers come from bank spokespeople and not the person who’s supposed to serve the public? The refusal to respond only fuels suspicions that there’s something to hide. In the absence of any official investigation, the people of Los Angeles are left with unanswered questions and growing doubts about who’s really pulling the strings at City Hall.
The stakes go far beyond one city. When foreign-linked donors buy their way into the halls of power, it undermines every principle of American self-government. It’s not just about campaign finance reform or stricter vetting; it’s about whether elected officials will protect their citizens from foreign manipulation or roll out the red carpet for anyone with a fat checkbook and the right connections. The reputational damage to Bass and the Mayor’s Fund is already obvious, but the real cost is the erosion of public trust in democratic institutions. If city leaders can’t even keep CCP-linked influence out of their own offices, what hope is there for the rest of the country?
Expert Warnings and the Call for Accountability
Gordon Chang and other China analysts have been sounding the alarm for years: the United Front Work Department is not just a distant threat. It is a well-oiled machine designed to burrow into the fabric of American society, targeting not just Washington, but state and local governments, nonprofits, and community groups. Defenders of Bass will say that campaign donations from international business leaders are nothing new, but the facts in this case show a pattern that can’t be brushed off as mere coincidence. When those business leaders are also official participants in Chinese government influence groups, ignoring the threat isn’t just naïve—it’s reckless.
The calls for greater transparency and accountability are only going to get louder. With the Biden administration’s era of appeasement in the rearview, Americans expect their leaders to stand up for the Constitution and put American interests first—not to play footsie with foreign governments or their proxies. The people deserve answers, and if city officials won’t provide them, the pressure for state and federal investigations will only grow. This isn’t about partisanship; it’s about common sense and the basic duty of every elected official to safeguard American sovereignty.
