Queens state Assemblyman Ron Kim says groups tied to the Chinese Community Party tried to topple him and steal his predominantly Asian-populated seat in the June Democratic primary.
“There were clear patterns of foreign influence trying to dictate the outcome of the election — groups with ties to mainland China and the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]. They were trying to steal the Flushing seat,” Kim told The Post.
“It’s a very layered operation. We’re entering dangerous territory. I don’t know how we can stop it,” he said.
Kim, a Korean-American, is speaking out after the stunning arrest of Linda Sun, a former top aide to Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo.
Sun, along with her husband, Christopher Hu, is charged with being an unregistered agent for the CCP in exchange for millions of dollars in kickbacks and laundering the illicit money to buy a $4.1 million mansion in Manhasset, LI, a $2 million posh Honolulu condo and a fleet of luxury cars, including a 2024 Ferrari Roma.
Kim’s Dem opponent in the 40th District’s primary race, upstart Yi Andy Chen, was endorsed by the American Chinese Commerce Association. The association is a group identified as linked to the CCP and John Chan, a Chinese-American activist and chairman of the group with reportedly close ties to the People’s Republic of China and its Consulate General office in New York.
Kim, who was first elected in 2012, won his tough primary battle by 443 votes.
The CCP’s influence-flexing in New York’s growing Asian communities has been whispered about in recent years, but people feared going on the record to avoid being targeted by the powerful foreign government known to monitor its critics abroad, sources said.
“It’s a scary thing,” Kim said of speaking out against the CCP.
He said an overwhelming majority of Chinese and other Asians move here to flee communism and authoritarianism for a better life and are patriotic Americans.
“The majority of Asia groups are loyal to American business and American capital,” Kim said.
But “there is a new wave of organizations tied to the CCP that are not loyal to our way of life,” he said.
The state pol recalled one unsettling related incident a few years ago.
He said that over the years, he would pass a resolution commemorating the United States’ relationship with Taiwan. Taiwan has governed itself independently from China since 1949, but China still views the island as part of its territory and wants to unify it with the mainland. Relations between the two remain extremely tense.
But Kim said that when Cuomo was governor, the assemblyman was contacted by someone in the gubernatorial office who told him the “Chinese consul general was upset” with his resolution.
Kim said he did not know if the message was being conveyed by Linda Sun but either way, “I was stunned.”
Kim said he knew Linda Sun well but declined to publicly discuss her criminal case.
Sun previously worked for Congresswoman Grace Meng of Queens when Meng served in the state Assembly. Meng did not endorse Kim during the primary.
In November, John Chan — who chairs the American Chinese Commerce Association — led an effort to drown out the cries of protesters in San Francisco who were awaiting the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping and claimed their relatives had been harmed by the Chinese government, according to the Washington Post and San Francisco Standard. The move on part of China was seen as trying to crack down on dissent even overseas.
Videos showed anti-Xi protesters attacked with flagpoles and chemical spray and pummeled by pro-Xi CCP supporters, the Washington Post reported.
A month later, Chan sponsored a small group of New York Assembly Republicans to take a trip to China to meet CCP leaders, a jaunt organized with first-term GOP Brooklyn Assemblyman Lester Chang. The trip raised eyebrows in political circles.
Chan works closely with the Chinese Consul General, and he is listed under a section of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website touting the contributions of state-linked and “Chinese-funded” overseas institutions, the Washington Post said.
Chan told a Chinese-language radio journalist at APEC that he was an organizer of the show of support for Xi.
Chan did not return a Post phone call or text for comment.
There was no answer at the Consulate of the People’s Republic of China in New York.
