As Iran war protests swept American cities, evidence points to Chinese-linked networks behind the organizing
The Protests That Were Not What They Seemed
When US-Israeli airstrikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026, protests erupted within hours in New York, Los Angeles, and dozens of other American cities. The speed of mobilization was striking. By the time Trump had finished his announcement, professionally printed signs were already circulating. Coordinated messaging was already amplified across social media platforms. The organizations doing the mobilizing, the ANSWER Coalition, People’s Forum, Code Pink, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, had their infrastructure in place before the first plane took off. Reporting from Just the News, Fox News, and Townhall documented within days what conservative media host Carl Higbie of Newsmax raised on his program: these organizations are part of a network funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American millionaire who sold his technology company in 2017 for $785 million, moved to Shanghai, and has since funneled more than a quarter of a billion dollars into far-left organizations with consistent pro-Beijing positioning.
The Singham Network and Its CCP Connections
Singham’s connections to the CCP have been documented in a 2023 New York Times investigation and in multiple congressional inquiries. The Times reported that Singham shares office space in Shanghai with the Maku Group, a Chinese media company that promotes CCP narratives and whose stated mission is to “tell China’s story well.” His wife, Jodie Evans, founded Code Pink. The People’s Forum in New York, which received more than $20 million from Singham’s network between 2017 and 2022, has been among the most vocal anti-US voices in the debate over the Iran war. Chinese state media, Xinhua, CGTN, the Global Times, and People’s Daily, immediately promoted the US anti-war protests, highlighting imagery from ANSWER Coalition and People’s Forum events and quoting their leaders extensively. The timing was precise: Beijing’s preferred narrative on the Iran war, framing the US strikes as illegal aggression rather than a response to Iranian nuclear development and civilian massacres, was amplified by organizations on American soil whose funding traces to a man who lives in Shanghai and shares office space with CCP media.
Beijing’s Strategic Interest in the Iran War
China’s motivation for opposing the US strikes on Iran is not difficult to identify. Iran is one of China’s most important energy suppliers. Over 80 percent of Iran’s oil exports have gone to China, accounting for roughly 13 percent of China’s maritime oil imports. The CCP brokered the 2023 Iran-Saudi Arabia normalization deal and has positioned itself as a Middle East peacemaker and defender of the Global South against Western military intervention. The US-Israeli operation that killed Khamenei and struck hundreds of Iranian military targets undermined each of these positions simultaneously. It eliminated an energy partner, exposed China’s claimed diplomatic influence as hollow when crises escalate to military action, and revealed that Chinese-supplied air defense systems deployed in Iran had failed to protect the regime they were sold to protect.
The Pattern of Domestic Influence Operations
The Singham network’s mobilization against the Iran war follows the same pattern documented during the ICE enforcement protests earlier in 2026. Reports linked the same organizations, funded by the same network, to the mobilization of anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis and other cities. Congressional Representative Anna Paulina Luna publicly confirmed that CCP-connected funding is contributing to protests designed to benefit China’s strategic interests. The House Select Committee on the CCP has documented the broader pattern of CCP influence operations targeting American political processes. The Justice Department’s FARA enforcement page details the legal framework for addressing undisclosed foreign influence.
What This Means for Democratic Societies
The CCP’s influence operation model, using proxy organizations and plausibly deniable funding networks to shape domestic political debate in democratic countries, is not confined to the United States. Similar networks have been documented in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and across Europe. For the Hong Kong democracy movement, this pattern is bitterly familiar. The CCP perfected the art of using front organizations, co-opted voices, and managed civil society to undermine genuine political opposition in Hong Kong before deploying the National Security Law to eliminate what remained. Democracies that allow these operations to proceed unchallenged are following the path Hong Kong traveled. The answer is transparency, disclosure, and the kind of principled civil society resistance that understands the difference between genuine political advocacy and foreign-funded influence operations designed to weaken democratic governance from within.
Senior Journalist & Editor, Apple Daily UK
Contact: athena.lai@appledaily.uk
Athena Lai is a senior journalist and editor with extensive experience in Chinese-language investigative reporting and editorial leadership. Educated at a leading journalism school in the United Kingdom, Athena received formal training in fact-checking methodology, editorial governance, and international media standards, grounding her work in globally recognized best practices.
She has held senior editorial roles at Apple Daily and other liberal Chinese publications, where she oversaw coverage of Hong Kong civil liberties, diaspora politics, rule of law, and press freedom. Athena’s reporting is distinguished by disciplined sourcing, cross-verification, and a clear separation between factual reporting and opinion, reinforcing reader trust.
Beyond reporting, Athena has served as an editor responsible for mentoring journalists, enforcing ethical guidelines, and managing sensitive investigations. Her newsroom leadership reflects real-world experience navigating legal risk, source protection, and editorial independence under pressure.
Athena’s authority comes from both her byline history and her editorial stewardship. She has reviewed and approved hundreds of articles, ensuring compliance with defamation standards, accuracy benchmarks, and responsible language use. Her work demonstrates lived experience within high-stakes news environments rather than theoretical expertise.
Committed to journalistic integrity, Athena believes credible journalism is built on transparency, accountability, and institutional memory. Her role at Apple Daily UK reflects that commitment, positioning her as a trusted voice within independent Chinese media.
