Pompeo: CCP targeting PTA meetings in U.S. schools

FPI / September 25, 2020

As part of an intensifying influence campaign, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending operatives to PTA meetings at U.S. schools, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

“We've watched the CCP campaigns targeting state-level officials, local interests. We've seen them at PTA meetings,” Pompeo said during a speech at the Wisconsin state Senate on Wednesday. “They've been at full-swing for years, and they're increasing in intensity.”

Pompeo warned that the CCP has stepped up efforts to "make Americans receptive to Beijing’s form of authoritarianism."

The secretary of state warned that communist China is targeting state and local governments and see them as a “weak link.”

“This isn’t the Cold War. It’s different in kind,” Pompeo said. “The CCP’s effort is more sophisticated, multi-layered, and nuanced. That’s why we have to have a conversation in our state legislatures about this China challenge. It’s as important in Wisconsin as it is in Washington.”

In Wisconsin, Chinese officials tried to lobby the state Senate to pass a resolution praising China for its response to the coronavirus. The move failed, and the Senate president responded only by calling it "nuts."

Pompeo noted signs of espionage campaigns at the municipal and city level, including the charges brought against an NYPD officer who allegedly acted as a Chinese agent and reported on the activities of Tibetans in the U.S.

“Know that when you are approached by a Chinese diplomat, it is likely not in the spirit of true cooperation or friendship,” he warned.

Free Press International