Attendees at the Times Square ball-drop celebration on Sunday night were showered with goofy swag, confetti — and Chinese Communist Party propaganda intended to boost Beijing’s bid for global power.
During the opening ceremony, a top Chinese diplomat posted to New York took to the stage to promote Beijing’s desired concept for a new world order, called the “global community of shared future.” He made the speech during a slot commanded by a pro-CCP community group with extensive links to Beijing’s foreign-influence apparatus.
“Today’s world is a global community of shared future,” said acting consul general Qian Jin. “In China, our tradition is to welcome friends with baiju at festive gatherings. Tonight, as Chinese baiju and American champagne come together, let’s toast to the long-lasting friendship between the Chinese, Americans, and the people around the world.”
The “global community” phrase comes from Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s calls to build “a community with a shared future for mankind” ten years ago — a message that implicitly condemns America’s role in the world and talks up the prospects of China’s global leadership. In September, China’s State Council updated that message with a new white paper titled “A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions.”
“His proposal lights the path forward as the world fumbles for solutions and represents China’s contribution to global efforts to protect the shared home and create a better future of prosperity for all,” that document stated. The Global Times CCP propaganda publication said at the time that while the white paper does not mention the U.S., it “shows that China is now openly disagreeing with the U.S.-proposed ‘rule-based order,’ which in fact is a way to preserve the old order dominated by U.S. hegemony.”
Jin’s speaking slot appeared to have been reserved by the Sino-American Friendship Association, a New York-based nonprofit group that organizes an annual China-themed event during a Mets game. At the New Year’s Eve celebration, SAFA performers put on a lion dance called “Cheers to 2024 with Wuliang Harmony.” The Wuliangye Group, a company that makes baiju liquor, participated in the festivities, the company said in a statement.
The association has numerous ties to the party through the affiliations of its leaders, including former Chinese officials and honorary SAFA chairman Xikun Yuan, who has served on a powerful advisory committee that coordinates the work of the party’s united-front influence campaigns. At the 2022 “Evening of Chinese Culture” Mets game, SAFA gave an award to Chinese consul general Huang Ping, a CCP hard-liner who has whitewashed Beijing’s human-rights abuses against Uyghurs and Tibetans.
It’s not clear if Wuliangye or SAFA paid for the slot, and the Times Square Alliance, the business group that organizes the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball-drop celebration, did not respond to a request for comment. The alliance’s chairman, Tom Harris, appeared onstage with Jin, presenting him with a red silk scarf, according the consulate’s website. Jin gave Harris a commemorative crystal-ball countdown patch.
The previous year, Hong Kong’s diplomatic office in the U.S. commanded a slot at the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration in tandem with SAFA, and it was attended by Harris and Huang.
Jin, in his capacity as acting consul general, also hosted a celebration at the Chinese consulate on Manhattan’s Twelfth Avenue earlier on December 31. He told attendees at that event that “the general trend of a shared destiny for the international community will not change,” hailed the meeting between Xi and President Biden in San Fransisco in November, and said “the hope of Sino–U.S. relations lies in the people.”
Winnie Greco, a top political adviser to New York mayor Eric Adams, attended the celebration, according to the consulate. Greco regularly attends events at the consulate and with pro-Beijing community groups in New York. She and Adams participated in a boat race hosted by the Hong Kong government in Queens last August and took part in a flag-raising ceremony for the anniversary of the People’s Republic of China alongside Huang in October.
A City Hall spokesperson did not respond to an email asking why Greco went to the consulate event.
Other guests at the consulate event included New York state senator Leroy Comrie, New York assemblyman David Weprin, SAFA president Peter Zhang, and China Institute in America CEO George Geh.