Select Committee Investigates Heartland China Association and Calls For It To Cut United Front Ties

Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China has sent a letter to the United States Heartland China Association requesting verifiable assurances that the organization is not acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China or facilitating covert foreign influence in the United States. The letter outlines concerns that Heartland China’s activities may be directed by the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front network which shapes foreign political environments, influences policymaking, and advances China’s international objectives.

“Heartland China’s network of domestic and overseas partners further underscores the risk that the organization may be operating in service of foreign malign influence… Heartland China’s Chinese partners include multiple entities that have been identified by the U.S. government as elements of the CCP’s influence and intelligence bureaucracy,” Moolenaar writes in the letter.

“These partnerships and relationships raise concerns about the significant entanglement of a foreign adversary with Heartland China’s advocacy. These extensive ties to PRC government-linked organizations also raise serious doubts that Heartland China’s many programs – including agricultural roundtables, business seminars, student forums and trips to China hosting U.S. elected officials – may be controlled, directed, and funded by the CCP or PRC government-linked entities, and therefore may violate U.S. laws that are intended to ensure transparency in foreign influence and other political activities,” adds Moolenaar.

“The CCP’s United Front operations are persistent, pervasive, and target every level of decision maker in the United States. State and local leaders are especially vulnerable. Heartland China should immediately terminate its relationship with all CCP United Front actors and cease serving as a pawn in the subnational influence operations of our foremost foreign adversary,” concludes Moolenaar.

The letter highlights Heartland China’s partnerships with multiple entities linked to the CCP’s influence and intelligence apparatus, including the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the China-United States Exchange Foundation, and other Chinese government-affiliated organizations. The letter also raises concerns that Heartland China has not fully disclosed its role in coordinating such engagements or the extent of its foreign partnerships.

To assess compliance with U.S. law, including the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Moolenaar requests detailed records of Heartland China’s programs, communications with U.S. officials, agreements with Chinese partners, and sources of foreign funding from 2021 to 2025. The letter underscores the growing risk posed by foreign influence operations and calls on Heartland China to immediately sever ties with organizations connected to the CCP’s United Front system. Moolenaar reaffirms a commitment to safeguarding U.S. institutions and ensuring transparency in foreign political activity.

Read the letter here.