The Chinese Spy Who Became Mayor
(But you're a racist xenophobe if you believe the CCP is working to infiltrate the U.S.)
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NOTE: Jeff Childers flagged this story yesterday. He was right to. But I don’t think anyone has fully reckoned with how insane it actually is. That’s what I’m here for. 😉
Ever since Russiagate was dominating news cycles, Americans have been cautioned about misinformation with the intensity of medieval villagers being warned about wolves. The wolves, we were told, were everywhere—dressed up as comedians, homeschool moms, anti-vax cheerleaders, rogue chiropractors, and basically anyone with a MAHA yard sign and a Canva account.
So it’s worth pausing to appreciate the fact that for more than half of that time, a literal Chinese government propaganda outfit was running a fake-news website right here on U.S. soil. In the Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia. Which is a real place with a median home price of $1.8 million, wild peacocks that have pedestrian rights, and a very nice racetrack.
Oh, and the whole operation was under the direction of a woman who would ultimately be elected to run the city.
She is, it turns out, exactly what we were told didn’t exist. For much of modern history, concerns about Chinese Communist Party infiltration of American institutions—local government, school boards, universities, civic organizations—have been actively mocked as racist paranoia, Cold War hysteria, or right-wing fearmongering. Unfortunately for the fact-checkers, the whole subgenre of “actually, worrying about Chinese influence is xenophobic” commentary is having a really bad week.