Well, it looks like Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s campaign might be sailing into very murky waters, and not because of another political protest or viral TikTok moment. No, this time, we’re talking about something far more serious—and with a foreign policy twist that’s raising more than a few national security eyebrows.
Here’s the headline: Gary Yu, a Boston-based political fundraiser with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department—a powerful influence and intelligence arm of the CCP—helped raise over $300,000 for Wu’s 2021 mayoral campaign. Let that sink in for a second.
Not only that, but Yu is listed as an official in two regional branches of this CCP apparatus and has actively recruited U.S. tech talent—yes, including AI researchers—to support China’s state-run innovation projects, some of which are directly tied to military contractors under U.S. sanctions.
And yet here he is, rubbing elbows with Massachusetts’ political elite, donating to everyone from Mayor Wu to Governor Maura Healey, and even sitting as vice chair of a state-run AAPI commission.
You don’t have to be a national security analyst to see why this story is setting off alarm bells.
According to the New England Chinese American Alliance (NECAA), the group Yu co-chairs, it raised over $300,000 for Wu’s campaign—stretching its fundraising reach across 30 states. Yu himself proudly boasted that his team translated Wu’s campaign materials into Chinese and hit the pavement every week to secure her victory.
And while Mayor Wu has made a national name for herself by proudly defying federal immigration laws and publicly snubbing the Trump administration, her top fundraiser was apparently shaking hands with Chinese Communist Party officials and pledging allegiance to helping “unite and lead overseas Chinese” in alignment with Beijing’s strategic goals.
But wait—it gets worse.
Yu reportedly agreed to headhunt American talent for at least six Chinese regional governments, including AI experts, engineers, and scientists. In fact, he set up a North American “Overseas Talent Recruitment Work Station” to directly feed Chinese programs that—according to the U.S. government—exist to poach intellectual property and strengthen China’s military and tech dominance.
Yu has also collaborated with organizations linked to the illegal Chinese police station that operated in New York City, and he’s helped fundraise for multiple Massachusetts Democrats—securing him appointments to official transition teams and commissions, even after his foreign affiliations were reportedly a matter of record.
So what’s been the response so far?
Crickets.
Neither Mayor Wu, Gary Yu, NECAA, Governor Healey, nor State Auditor DiZoglio (who put Yu on her transition team) has responded to multiple requests for comment.
The AAPI Commission where Yu now serves as vice chair claims they had “no idea” about his foreign government ties—but now that they’ve been made aware, they’ll “investigate.” Which, if we’re being honest, sounds a little late in the game for someone already holding a leadership title in a taxpayer-funded role.
Now, to be absolutely clear: no one is saying Michelle Wu herself is a CCP agent. But here’s the thing—vetting matters. And when your campaign gets six-figure support from someone with documented connections to a foreign intelligence influence operation, the public has a right to demand transparency. Especially when that foreign government is America’s chief geopolitical adversary.
