Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey pledged to expand her state’s cooperation with China, during a meeting with the head of a Chinese diplomatic office allegedly linked to Beijing’s political influence operations and repression activities on U.S. soil.
Healey hosted Ambassador Chen Li, the Chinese consul general in New York, at the Massachusetts state house on May 7, later posting a picture of the session, in which she and the diplomat are smiling. “Today we welcomed Ambassador H.E. Chen Li to Massachusetts. We discussed our shared economic and cultural ties, and our commitment to continuing to work together for the benefit of our people and our economy,” she said in a statement after the meeting.
The Chinese consulate general, which is based in Manhattan but also oversees China’s relations to Massachusetts, posted a summary of Chen’s meeting with Healey to its Chinese language website. It claims that the governor said that Massachusetts will continue to strengthen its exchanges with China.
Chen’s trip to Boston comes amid President Trump’s trade war with China. While the U.S. and China agreed to lower some of their trade barriers on May 12, broader negotiations are ongoing. Beijing often leverages its relationships with state and local officials to bypass the federal government, which takes a more hawkish stance toward China.
The apparently warm tone of their conversation also contrasts with recent Justice Department disclosures over the past several years describing the Chinese consulate general’s involvement in numerous repression, espionage, and foreign agent criminal schemes.
In one of those cases, a former staffer for New York Governor Kathy Hochul stands accused of acting as an unregistered agent of China’s government. Court documents allege that she took direction from the Chinese consulate general to manipulate state policy to Beijing’s benefit in close coordination with consular officials. That individual, Linda Sun, pleaded not guilty and will go to trial this summer.
In another case, a Massachusetts man, Litang Liang, was accused by the federal government of acting as an agent for China but was acquitted by a jury earlier this year. His lawyer argued that Liang was open about his pro-Beijing activities and that they are protected speech. The Justice Department, in its indictment, alleged that Liang was frequently in touch with officials from the Chinese consulate general and sent them information about anti-CCP dissidents in Boston.
Senior officials from the consulate general also visited a secret Chinese police station that a branch of China’s Ministry of Public Security operated in Manhattan before the FBI shuttered the facility, Justice Department filings said.
In a 2020 interview, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the consulate general is engaged in espionage.
Healey’s decision to embrace Chen stands out when compared with the conduct of other East Coast governors. While the consulate general cultivated a strong working relationship with Hochul, she distanced herself from the outpost and demanded the expulsion of Chen’s predecessor when Sun was arrested last year. Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy frequently works with Taiwan’s diplomats in New York and has stayed away from public appearances with the Chinese consulate general.
The Chinese Communist Party claims to speak for all ethnically Chinese people, including those who do not hold Chinese citizenship. That idea is the ideological basis for CCP repression schemes and political influence operations abroad, and Chinese officials attempt to get foreign officials to adopt the view that Beijing exercises legitimate jurisdiction over all ethnically Chinese people.
Healey linked the meeting with Chen to the status of Chinese-American residents of her state, even though there is no relationship between many ethnically Chinese people in the U.S. and Beijing. “Massachusetts is home to a vibrant community of nearly 200,000 people of Chinese heritage, and they make valued contributions to our communities and our economy,” the press release stated.