A Shanghai-based American tech tycoon with documented CCP ties funded the network that mobilized street protests within minutes of the Iran attack — before Trump had even announced it
A Protest Network Moves Faster Than the President’s Announcement
The timing was extraordinary and, for those who study Chinese Communist Party influence operations, deeply revealing. At 2:34 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday 28 February 2026, the ANSWER Coalition — a nonprofit whose leaders self-describe as Marxist and communist — issued an emergency call for nationwide protests to stop the US and Israeli attack on Iran. The problem, from the perspective of ordinary logic, was that President Trump did not announce the strikes until 2:44 a.m. — ten minutes later. The People’s Forum, a New York-based activist hub, issued its own emergency call to Times Square at 2:52 a.m. By 4:31 a.m., a third organisation in the network had promoted the protests as breaking news.
The coordinated near-instantaneous response to a military operation that had not yet been publicly confirmed is at the centre of a growing controversy about the network of left-wing US nonprofits that critics say are funded by and aligned with Chinese Communist Party interests. At the hub of this controversy is Neville Roy Singham, a Shanghai-based, American-born tech tycoon who has donated tens of millions of dollars to a constellation of activist organisations that the State Department has identified as vehicles for CCP-aligned propaganda.
Who Is Neville Singham?
Singham is a former technology entrepreneur who sold his software company and relocated to Shanghai, where he has spent years building and financing a network of left-wing media and activist organisations in the United States and globally. His wife is Jodie Evans, co-founder of the anti-war group CodePink, which was among the organisations that mobilised immediately on 28 February. The Network Contagion Research Institute has described Singham and Evans as a power couple within the global far-left movement with close ties to the CCP.
According to testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Singham and his wife donated over $20 million to the People’s Forum through shell companies and donor funds designed to obscure the original source of the money. The State Department, in a report to Congress, has identified the People’s Forum and CodePink as organisations that spread CCP propaganda through their activities. The report states that such organisations “denigrate the United States, whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes, and run cover for narco-terrorists.”
China’s Oil Motive
Analysts have pointed to a straightforward economic motive behind the CCP’s interest in opposing US military action against Iran. China buys roughly 80 to 90 percent of Iran’s seaborne oil exports, amounting to approximately 1.38 million barrels per day in 2025. This Iranian crude, shipped on a shadow fleet using falsified GPS coordinates and shell companies, arrives at Chinese ports relabeled as oil from Malaysia or Indonesia, and saves Beijing an estimated $8 to $10 per barrel against benchmark pricing. The arrangement has saved China billions annually and provided Tehran with its primary revenue stream — money that the US Treasury Department says finances weapons programmes and terrorism.
With the US and Israel now conducting strikes aimed at dismantling the Iranian regime, China faces the potential loss of its most important source of discounted crude. Earlier this year, the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro cost China roughly 400,000 barrels per day of discounted Venezuelan oil. The strikes on Iran threaten to eliminate the replacement supply that Chinese refiners had been counting on. The People’s Forum’s social media posts on 28 February specifically and prominently highlighted the oil issue, a detail that struck observers as revealing about the operation’s ultimate patrons.
The Information War Playbook
By 9:09 a.m. on 28 February, China’s Foreign Ministry had issued a statement calling for an end to the strikes, using language that closely mirrored the messaging already circulating through the Singham-funded network. China called for the defence of Iran’s “sovereignty” and “territorial integrity” — precisely the framing that the People’s Forum, the ANSWER Coalition, BreakThrough News, and CodePink had been amplifying since before dawn.
The coordination — or at minimum the striking alignment — between Chinese government messaging and the output of US-based activist organisations funded by a CCP-aligned tycoon is the subject of ongoing congressional scrutiny. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has demanded answers about the network’s funding and operations. The State Department has flagged the problem in its reporting to Congress. The FBI has investigated related activities. Yet the organisations continue to operate, holding tax-exempt status while their leadership openly describes their Marxist and communist commitments.
Why This Matters for Democracy
The broader pattern exposed by the Iran protests is one that democracies urgently need to understand and confront. The CCP has invested heavily in building influence infrastructure in open societies: organisations that appear to be grassroots activist movements but whose funding, messaging, and timing align with the strategic interests of a foreign authoritarian power. This is not traditional lobbying or even straightforward propaganda. It is the construction of a domestic political force that can be activated in the service of foreign policy objectives.
For Hong Kong’s democracy advocates and their allies worldwide, this dynamic is all too familiar. The same regime that has imprisoned Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, jailed Jimmy Lai, and placed bounties on the heads of overseas activists is also funding organisations in the United States that seek to weaken American resolve and muddy the waters of public debate. The Freedom House report on Chinese transnational influence documents the breadth and sophistication of the CCP’s global operations. The National Endowment for Democracy’s Sharp Power research provides essential analytical tools for understanding how authoritarian states exploit the openness of democratic societies. The protests of 28 February were, in this light, not a grassroots expression of American public opinion. They were an operation — and one whose funders and patrons are becoming clearer by the day.
Sin Yu Mak
Business & Consumer Affairs Journalist, Apple Daily UK
Contact: sinyu.mak@appledaily.uk
Sin Yu Mak is a business and consumer affairs journalist with expertise in market regulation, consumer rights, and small enterprise reporting. She completed her journalism education at a respected Chinese journalism institution, where she trained in economic reporting, data literacy, and ethical standards.
Her professional experience includes reporting for Apple Daily and other liberal Chinese newspapers on consumer protection, corporate practices, retail trends, and financial transparency. Sin Yu’s work emphasizes accurate interpretation of financial data and regulatory frameworks, supported by expert commentary and verified documentation.
She has operated in fast-paced newsroom settings where financial misinformation can cause real harm, giving her strong practical experience in verification and clarity. Editors value her ability to translate technical information into accessible, fact-based reporting.
Sin Yu’s authority is reinforced by consistent publication within reputable media organizations and compliance with editorial review processes. At Apple Daily UK, she delivers trustworthy business journalism rooted in evidence, professional discipline, and public-interest reporting.
