(DCNF)—A politically-connected Midwestern nonprofit focused on “building bridges” with China has extensive ties to groups and individuals who are affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence arm, the Daily Caller News Foundation has found.
The Missouri-based United States Heartland China Association (USHCA), a 501(c)3 bipartisan organization, characterizes its mission as “building bridges and promoting opportunities” between U.S. officials and businesses in Midwestern states and China. USHCA runs a number of U.S.-China programs, including agricultural roundtables, business seminars, student forums and political junkets to China.
Records show that USHCA-hosted events and trips are often conducted in partnership with organizations affiliated with the CCP’s United Front Work Department (UFWD).
The UFWD is a “Chinese intelligence service” responsible for coordinating “influence operations,” according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which Congress created to study national security threats from China.
USHCA’s board of directors and strategic advisory team includes several individuals who also work for UFWD-affiliated groups, according to a DCNF review of those groups’ membership records.
Republican lawmakers have specifically flagged USHCA’s dealings with UFWD entities in the past.
In November 2021, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio singled out USHCA as a UFWD “conduit,” and, more recently, Indiana Rep. Jim Banks sent a letter to a local officials in his home state warning that USHCA has “collaborated with CCP United Front Work Department cut-outs and other Chinese state-sponsored organizations.”
A USHCA spokesperson told the DCNF that it stood behind its years-long work with Chinese entities.
“As an organization that promotes people-to-people exchanges in culture, education and business between the Heartland and China, USHCA will inevitably work with Chinese entities,” the spokesperson told the DCNF by email. “We seek out Chinese partners to support the execution of public programs that meet our objectives.”
USHCA’s mission is to promote “a stable and productive U.S.-China relationship to protect and advance the interests of the American Heartland,” the spokesperson wrote, adding the nonprofit pursues its mission by “organizing people-to-people exchanges in culture, education and business.”
The spokesperson also told the DCNF that the non-profit is “funded by American sources including membership dues, Heartland community supporters, private donations, grants from private foundations, corporate sponsors and contributions from state governmental agencies.”
Speaking generally, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, chair of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told the DCNF that the CCP has used the United Front Work Department to “manipulate the American people and interfere in all levels of our government, including state and local governments.”
‘United Front Work’
USHCA was founded in 2003 by former Missouri Governor Bob Holden, a Democrat, who is still the group’s president and board chairman. USHCA’s reach has grown to cover 21 states across the Midwest, Great Plains and South. The group’s political influence is evident from the composition of its board and strategic advisory team, which includes former governors, mayors and other prominent government officials.
For instance, USHCA lists former governors Matt Blunt of Missouri, a Republican, Ronnie Musgrove of Mississippi, a Democrat, and Brad Henry of Oklahoma, a Democrat, as strategic advisors. Export-Import Bank President Reta Jo Lewis and Mitch Landrieu, President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign co-chair, both previously served as USHCA strategic advisors.
“The USHCA leadership has vast experience in both business and education that uniquely position the organization to forge deep and productive relationships between the people of the U.S. and China,” the nonprofit’s website states.
USHCA’s leadership also includes at least four individuals who appear to hold positions at various entities affiliated to one degree or another with the United Front.
USHCA board member Liu Yawei is the senior advisor on China at the China Focus program at the Carter Center, and he is also listed as an “expert” on the “academic advisory committee” of the Center For China And Globalization (CCG). CCG’s website includes a photograph of Liu and identifies him as the “director” of the China program at former President Jimmy Carter’s think tank.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission describes CCG as a “United Front-affiliated Beijing think tank.”
CCG’s website also lists USHCA strategic advisor “Sam” Zhao Suisheng as an “expert” on its “academic advisory committee.” CCG’s website includes a photograph of Zhao and identifies him as director of the University of Denver’s Center for China-U.S. Cooperation, which is where he works.
On multiple occasions — including in 2009, 2011 and 2018 — Zhao was a “representative” to events in China jointly held by CCG and the Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA), according to records from both organizations. High-level CCP and UFWD officials attended these events, which concerned “talent” acquisition and other subjects, according to records from both groups.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s 2018 report identifies WRSA as a “United Front organization,” and its members founded CCG, the commission’s report notes.
Liu and Zhao were both listed as participants in a 2011 CCG and WRSA panel discussion in Beijing titled, “The Role of Returnees In China’s Public Diplomacy,” according to Chinese news website Sina.
In an interview, Zhao confirmed his CCG advisory position and his status as a representative to past CCG and WRSA events. Zhao also said he’d previously held several advisory roles with Chinese government agencies, including as an “overseas expert” for the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
Zhao gave conflicting answers regarding his CCP affiliation. First, he told the DCNF he applied to join the CCP before coming to the U.S. in 1985, but was not admitted. However, Zhao followed up with an email stating that he’d had to “refresh” his memory.
“I never applied [to the CCP] because I knew I would not be admitted due to my liberal-leaning thought and involvement in the pro-democracy movement,” Zhao wrote in the email.
“As a devoted and independent scholar with a focus on the study of Chinese politics (including the United Front tactics), foreign policy, and U.S.-China relations, I value all and every opportunity, particularly the opportunities on the ground, to research the subjects and promote the mutual understanding between the U.S. and China,” Zhao wrote.
“As a proud Chinese American living about 30 years in China and about 40 years in the U.S., I want to help promote people-to-people exchanges to benefit people in the two great nations and reduce misunderstanding and misperceptions,” Zhao wrote in the email. “That is why I agreed to be an advisor to the Heartland U.S.-China Association.”
“Swallow” Yan Xiaozhe, the chairperson for USHCA’s “Chinese Community Leaders” committee, was appointed as an “overseas committee member” for the All-China Federation Of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC) in 2010, according to a release from the group. The release features a picture of Yan accepting a certificate from Consul General Huang Ping of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago.
ACFROC is a United Front organization “for returned overseas Chinese and their relatives,” according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
USHCA’s own website also identifies strategic advisor Alan Wong as a “special advisor” to the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), which is a Hong Kong-based nonprofit that’s registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
CUSEF “operates within a broader strategy of united front work, whose purpose ‘is to control, mobilize and otherwise make use of individuals outside the Party to achieve [CCP] objectives,’” according to the House Select Committee on the CCP.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has described CUSEF as a “united front-linked” organization engaged in “efforts to cultivate domestic constituencies that further Beijing’s economic agenda.” The commission’s 2023 report specifically flagged USHCA’s partnership with CUSEF as “often providing a platform for the promotion of official Chinese views on agricultural trade and exchange.”
During his confirmation hearings, CIA Director William Burns agreed that CUSEF was part of Beijing’s effort to “influence political, economic and cultural developments to benefit CCP interests.” Burns was appointed by President Biden and sworn in as CIA Director in March 2021, making him the first career diplomat to hold the position.
USHCA’s spokesperson did not respond to the DCNF’s questions about its advisors’ and board members’ work with UFWD-affiliated entities.
CUSEF, CCG, Liu, Wong and Yan did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
!["Sam" Zhao Suisheng served as an expert to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and is a member of the Center For China And Globalization's academic advisory committee. [Image created by the DCNF with pics from Chinese Social Sciences Today and CCG]](https://i0.wp.com/cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/imageedit_28_9302106224-e1707596577647.jpg?ssl=1)
‘Reflects The Theory Of The Chinese Communist Party’
USHCA has promoted what it calls “people-to-people” diplomacy in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy and several UFWD-affiliated organizations.
The National Committee On U.S.-China Relations, a U.S. nonprofit, defines “people-to-people diplomacy” as “non-governmental exchanges between citizens of two countries that contribute to stronger relations between the two countries,” and cites the 1971 ping-pong games played between the U.S. and China as an example.
The U.S. State Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence have sounded the alarm on UFWD influence operations targeting “subnational” leaders at the state and local level using “people-to-people” exchanges.
“People-to-people exchanges are being exploited by the United Front because while these exchanges present as a way to strengthen bonds, the tactics used to target high-value assets is in reality a grooming strategy, that from China’s perspective, is a way to gain favor and access to ‘confidential and privileged’ information at some point in the future,” Ina Mitchell, a Chinese intelligence expert, told the DCNF. Mitchell is the co-author of “The Mosaic Effect: How The Chinese Communist Party Started A Hybrid War In America’s Backyard.”
CUSEF has sponsored more than half a dozen of USHCA’s programs, the DCNF found, including USCHA’s “Way Forward” webinar series, which promotes “subnational and people-to-people exchange between the American Heartland region and China,” according to USHCA’s 2020 annual report.
USHCA has also promoted “people-to-people” diplomacy with the Chinese People’s Association For Friendship With Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). USHCA characterized CPAFFC as a “partner” in 2021.
CPAFFC is a “key organization in China’s united front network,” according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center has also warned that the CCP has tasked CPAFFC with “overseeing and developing ‘sister’ relationships between China and localities in the United States” and “may exploit these pacts to press its agendas.”
USHCA’s spokesperson told the DCNF that the nonprofit “decided to work with CPAFFC and other Chinese partners because they were able to identify and recommend Chinese experts and participants.”
In 2021, 2022 and 2023, USHCA and CPAFFC co-sponsored a series of “U.S.-China Agriculture Roundtables,” which the U.S. nonprofit described as “the preeminent annual bilateral dialogue around agriculture with the most diverse participants.”
Chinese diplomats, elected officials from Midwestern states and U.S. agricultural executives were among those who participated in the roundtables, according to USHCA. Additionally, the roundtables have also featured Chinese People’s Institute Of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) representatives — an institute that describes itself as “devoted to people-to-people diplomacy.”
In 2019, while commemorating CPIFA’s 70th anniversary, CPAFFC’s then-chairwoman, Li Xiaolin, said that “people-to-people diplomacy, as a theory and a practice, reflects the theory of the Chinese Communist Party on mass line and united front.”
CPAFFC did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
![[Image created by the DCNF using images from Zhejiang Gongshang University's social media account]](https://i0.wp.com/cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/imageedit_26_6568825190-e1707527167365.jpg?ssl=1)
‘On Behalf Of The Chinese Communist Party’
USHCA sent delegations of U.S. mayors to China in 2019 and 2023 with logistical support from various UFWD-affiliated organizations like CPAFFC, according to the nonprofit’s records.
In November 2019, USHCA led a delegation of four Midwest mayors to China. USHCA identified CPAFFC as one of several “key players in the planning and delivery of this trip.”
Four years later, USHCA announced that its vice-chair — former Carmel, Indiana Mayor Jim Brainard — led a bipartisan delegation of U.S. mayors to “visit their counterparts” in China in November 2023. The focus of the trip was to “underscore the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and China,” according to USHCA.
CPAFFC took credit for inviting the mayoral delegation, China Youth Daily reported. China Youth Daily is the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League.
The delegation also included Mayor Barbara Buffaloe of Columbia, Missouri; Mayor Lee Harris of Shelby County, Tennessee; Mayor Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, Mississippi; Mayor Kim Norton of Rochester, Minnesota; and Mayor Robyn Tannehill of Oxford, Mississippi.
USHCA’s announcement thanked “the Ford Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Energy Foundation China for their support that made this delegation possible.”
The delegation attended a Sister Cities Conference in Suzhou and mayors’ roundtable in Wuhan. The roundtable was followed by “an in-depth discussion on opportunities for collaboration” and “the signing of sister-city agreement between the city of Carmel, Indiana and Xiangyang, Hubei, the newest pair of sister cities between the United States and China,” USHCA announced.
Mayor Norton told the DCNF she accepted USHCA’s invitation to travel to China to “build sub-national relationships and to participate in an opportunity that included meeting with our long-standing sister city.”
Rochester’s website lists its sister city as Xianyang in Shaanxi province. Norton’s trip took place nine months after CPAFFC and Xianyang officials visited Rochester, according to the city.
Norton said she was “very aware of the current international tensions and national security concerns and took recommended measures for this trip — no phone, no computer, etc.”
“I took part in this trip comfortably given that we were briefed and supported by the U.S. State Department and were completely transparent about the goals of the trip focused on the environment and heartland related (agricultural) issues,” Norton told the DCNF.
USHCA’s spokesperson also told the DCNF that the nonprofit has been able to “protect” itself by “working closely with U.S. governmental agencies.”
The November junket drew scrutiny from Rep. Banks, who wrote to Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam and asked for her city to withdraw from its Chinese sister-city agreement, alleging that USHCA conducts “work on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party to influence U.S. business leaders and lawmakers.”
Finkam did not end Carmel’s sister-city agreement, but terminated its $25,000-a-year membership with USHCA on Feb. 8, 2024, the Carmel Current reported.
“[T]he Chinese Communist Party will have no influence over the City of Carmel,” Finkam said, according to the Carmel Current.
“Now that Congress has the facts, we need to figure out a federal response,” Banks told the DCNF. “I’m confident that Indiana leaders will lead the way in the fight against the Heartland Association and other groups tied to CCP United Front activities. We need to drive this CCP influence operation out of our state and then the entire country.”
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Two Storms, One Harvest
Every food crisis in living memory has been a one-shock event. The 2008 price spike was a commodity bubble. The 2020 shortages were a logistics failure. The 2022 grain scare was a war on one exporter’s ports. Each time, the system bent, adjusted, and recovered, and each time the experts assured us afterward that global markets are simply too big and too diversified to fail.
What nobody in Washington seems eager to discuss is that 2026 is shaping up to be something the modern food system has never actually faced. Two independent shocks, one climatic and one geopolitical, are converging on the same harvest cycle at the same time. Not sequentially. Simultaneously.
Start with the weather. The Pacific Ocean is currently building toward what forecasters now openly call a record event. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center puts the odds of at least a strong El Niño near 88 percent, with roughly two in three odds it reaches “very strong” status, the tier reserved for perhaps three or four events in the entire satellite era. Every major global model now projects a median peak in Super El Niño territory, and most of them project it exceeding the 2015-16 event, which until now held the modern record. Sea surface anomalies were already brushing the super threshold in mid-July, months before these events normally peak. The atmosphere has already shifted into El Niño mode, and the event is forecast to crest in late fall and early winter.
This is not about “climate change.” It’s about the standard cycles of weather, and the cycle we’re currently in is one that has likely devastated societies in the past. We’re better prepared as a society today, but not all Americans are equally prepared.
Serious households have started doing the quiet math on their own. Grocery bills tell part of the story, and the forecast maps tell the rest, which is why long-term food storage has moved from fringe hobby to mainstream line item in the family budget, with established suppliers like Heaven’s Harvest seeing demand from people who five years ago would have rolled their eyes at the idea. That instinct is not paranoia. It is pattern recognition, and the pattern is worth walking through carefully.
Editor’s Note: Heaven’s Harvest IS a sponsor, but the warnings of this article are real and would be written even if we didn’t have a survival food sponsor. With that said, those who take advantage of what they offer can use promo code “Patriot” for 15% off.
The Fertilizer Clock Is Already Running
While the Pacific warms, the second shock has been unfolding in the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict with Iran turned the world’s most important energy chokepoint into a contested waterway, and the consequences reach far beyond the gas pump. Roughly a third of global fertilizer trade moves through Hormuz, and the disruption sent urea prices up 86 percent year over year by March, with a 53 percent jump in a single month.
The World Bank projects energy prices rising about 24 percent in 2026 and fertilizer about 31 percent. By its own accounting, fertilizer prices ran 35 percent higher in the first five months of this year than the same period last year.
Here is the mechanism the nightly news will not explain. Fertilizer is not a grocery item. It is a time-delayed input. The nitrogen a farmer in Iowa or Punjab could not afford to apply this spring does not show up as a problem this spring. It shows up as a thinner harvest six to twelve months later.
The World Bank’s own food security brief concedes that the effects of reduced applications earlier this season “are likely to become visible only later in harvest outcomes.” Translate that from institutional language into plain English and it means this. The damage is already done, it is already in the ground, and we are simply waiting for it to arrive on the shelf.
Now check the calendar. Six to twelve months from the spring planting season lands us squarely in late 2026 and early 2027. Which is precisely when the strongest El Niño in the instrumental record is forecast to peak, bringing its signature droughts to Southeast Asia, Australia, southern Africa, northern Brazil, and South Asia, the very regions that grow the world’s rice, sugar, and oilseeds.
The World Bank warns openly that a strong El Niño “could disrupt multiple crop belts simultaneously” on top of the conflict-driven input costs. Their baseline projection assumes the Middle East disruptions ease by autumn. What in the last two years of Middle East history suggests that assumption is safe?
The System Has No Slack Left
The comfortable answer is that global markets always adjust. But adjustment requires slack, and the slack is gone. Global cereal production is expected to decline from last year’s records even before El Niño does its work. The UN World Food Programme, hardly a den of right-wing preppers, is calling this the most significant disruption to its supply chains since Covid and the invasion of Ukraine, and its supply chain director put the stakes bluntly.
Today’s supply chain challenges are tomorrow’s hunger crisis.
There is also a political dimension that markets cannot price. When food gets scarce, governments do not behave like economists. They behave like politicians. Export bans, hoarding mandates, and panic buying at the national level turned the modest rice shortfall of 2008 into a global crisis, and analysts are already warning that import-dependent nations are the first dominoes.
The 2015-16 Super El Niño, a far weaker event than what is now forecast, threw tens of millions into food stress across Africa and Asia. This one is projected to be stronger, and it arrives with fertilizer already rationed by price and shipping lanes already contested by missiles.
What Joseph Knew
Scripture does not treat preparation for lean years as faithlessness. It treats it as wisdom delivered in advance to those willing to act on it.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt.
Joseph did not respond to that warning with a hashtag or a committee. He stored grain during the years of abundance, and when the famine came, Egypt stood while its neighbors begged. The lesson is not that famine is certain. It is that the time to prepare is precisely when preparation still looks optional.
Nobody who filled a pantry in a year of plenty has ever regretted it, and nobody standing in an empty aisle has ever been glad he waited for certainty.
None of this calls for panic, and panic is the enemy of sound judgment anyway. It calls for the same unglamorous prudence our grandparents considered ordinary. Keep some cash margin, know your local growers, and put real food in deep storage while it is cheap and available, because the entire arc of this story is that cheap and available is a closing window.
Families looking for a straightforward place to start can visit Heaven’s Harvest and use promo code Patriot for 15 percent off long-term storable food. The forecasts may yet soften, the strait may yet reopen, and we should pray they do. But hope is a fine thing to hold and a foolish thing to eat.