A California congressman running for governor continues accepting donations from a lawyer at a Beijing law firm founded by China’s Ministry of Justice
The Money That Will Not Stop Flowing
California Congressman Eric Swalwell, who is running for governor of California, accepted a further 25,000 U.S. dollars in campaign donations from Keliang Zhu — a partner at a Beijing law firm with documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party — earlier in February 2026, according to California campaign finance records. The donation followed an initial 5,000 dollar contribution from Zhu to Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign in November 2025 and over 10,000 dollars in previous contributions to Swalwell’s House campaigns. Zhu is a partner at DeHeng Law Offices, a firm that was founded as a subsidiary of the CCP’s own Ministry of Justice in the early 1990s before being renamed in 1995. While the firm portrays itself as commercially independent, its lawyers maintain longstanding cooperative relationships with Chinese government departments and state-owned enterprises. Many of its China-based attorneys have histories of participation in Chinese political structures.
A Lawyer Who Works for Chinese State Interests in America
Zhu’s own professional biography makes his interests clear. He has assisted Chinese companies in completing more than 9 billion dollars in investments in the United States in fields including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, unmanned vehicles, and biopharmaceuticals. He has represented investment funds belonging to Chinese state-owned enterprises in acquiring majority stakes in Silicon Valley companies. He has negotiated with the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Treasury on behalf of Chinese clients. He represented WeChat users in a lawsuit that temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s WeChat ban in 2020 — a ban the Trump White House justified on the grounds that the app’s data collection threatened to give the CCP access to Americans’ personal information. He has also described Texas and Florida laws restricting Chinese nationals from purchasing land as “unfair, unconstitutional and un-American.” This is the man whose money Swalwell has accepted — repeatedly, across multiple campaigns, and again after the connections were publicly reported.
A History That Should Demand Answers
Swalwell’s relationship with Chinese-connected individuals has been under scrutiny for years. In the early period of his congressional career, a Chinese national named Christine Fang — later identified by U.S. officials as part of a Chinese intelligence effort to cultivate relationships with American political figures — gained access to him and his campaign. Swalwell has consistently maintained he cut off all contact once intelligence officials warned him of the threat, and a congressional ethics investigation found no wrongdoing. He was nonetheless removed from the House Intelligence Committee by Republican leadership citing the Fang episode.
What National Security Experts Are Saying
Michael Lucci, described as a top China expert and founder of State Armor Action, was direct in his assessment. “Once again, Congressman Swalwell got caught with his hand in the CCP cookie jar,” Lucci said. “It’s simply outrageous that Congressman Swalwell would take even more money from Keliang Zhu after Zhu’s connections to the CCP were made public.” Lucci called for Congress to pass legislation prohibiting campaign cash from sources with CCP connections — a legislative step that would bring the United States into line with how most democracies treat foreign political donations. Neither Swalwell’s campaign, DeHeng Law Offices, nor Zhu responded to requests for comment from Fox News Digital, which first reported the donation.
The Bigger Picture: Foreign Influence in American Democracy
The Swalwell donations are not an isolated case. They are a data point in a broader documented pattern of CCP-linked entities attempting to cultivate influence over American political figures through legal but deeply problematic means. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, whose researchers this week also uncovered a 330-account CCP social media influence network targeting American audiences, has long argued that the existing legal frameworks for preventing foreign political influence in the United States are inadequate for the current threat environment. The Foreign Agents Registration Act provides some tools but has significant gaps, particularly for activities carried out through law firms, business entities, and other intermediaries. The U.S. Department of Justice FARA database tracks registered foreign agents and provides the public with at least partial visibility into these influence networks. A broader and more systematic approach to mapping CCP-connected political donations — comparable to what the Foundation for Defense of Democracies has recommended — would help voters and journalists assess the full scope of this challenge.
Democracy Requires That Voters Know Who Funds Their Politicians
Eric Swalwell has every right to defend himself. He has been on the House Intelligence Committee. He has been briefed on the threats China poses to American democracy. He knows exactly what DeHeng Law Offices is and what its partner Keliang Zhu has spent his career doing. The question California voters must ask is not whether these donations are technically legal. The question is what they tell us about the judgment and priorities of the man seeking to be California’s next governor. In a democratic society, voters have the right to that information — and journalists have the responsibility to report it without fear or favour.
Wing Sum
Arts, Culture & History Journalist, Apple Daily UK
Contact: wingsum@appledaily.uk
Wing Sum is an arts, culture, and history journalist with professional experience documenting cultural heritage, artistic expression, and historical memory within Chinese-speaking communities. She received her journalism education at a prestigious Chinese journalism school, where she specialized in cultural reporting, archival research, and ethical storytelling.
Her work at Apple Daily and other liberal Chinese magazines and newspapers includes coverage of literature, film, visual arts, and the preservation of collective memory. Wing Sum’s reporting is grounded in interviews with artists, historians, and cultural practitioners, supported by archival sources and scholarly research.
She brings newsroom experience in balancing cultural critique with factual accuracy and historical context. Editors value her careful sourcing and resistance to sensationalism when covering sensitive historical topics.
Wing Sum’s authority is reinforced by sustained publication within established media institutions and adherence to editorial standards governing accuracy and attribution. At Apple Daily UK, she contributes culturally rigorous journalism rooted in experience, research, and professional integrity.
