Over 1,000 CCP-Linked Groups in America: Exposing United Front Operations | Peter Mattis

About this episode

Peter Mattis discusses the findings of a report on Chinese United Front operations in the West.

A recent landmark Jamestown Foundation report maps Chinese United Front operations, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) effort to co-opt and weaponize civil society against the CCP’s enemies. The report, titled “ Harnessing the People ” and authored by researcher Cheryl Yu, identifies more than 2,000 such organizations operating in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany. More than 1,000 are operating in the United States. They span a wide range, including student, business, professional, cultural, and “friendship” groups as well as media outlets. In this episode, I sit down with Peter Mattis, president of The Jamestown Foundation. Few understand this complex web of Chinese influence and espionage operations as well as he does. His storied career includes roles such as senior fellow with the U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP, staff director of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), and counterintelligence analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. The United Front has two distinct areas of operation: inside China and outside China. Basically, every Party committee in China has a United Front department, Mattis said. But, he said, “the…

People in this episode

Guest: Peter Mattis

Topics covered

• Chinese influence
• United Front operations
• CCP espionage
• civil society
• international relations

Keywords

• CCP
• United Front
• Chinese organizations
• espionage
• civil society
• influence operations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Jamestown Foundation, Chinese Communist Party, U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Central Intelligence Agency, Jamestown Foundation

Places: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany

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