Center for China and Globalization

CCG was founded in 2008 by Wang Huiyao and Mable Miao Lu, scholars who are reported to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).{{Cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/07/rubio-questions-d-c-panel-on-china-influence-united-front-beijing-communist-party/|title=Rubio Questions D.C. Panel on China Influence|last=Allen-Ebrahimian|first=Bethany|date=May 7, 2018|work=Foreign Policy|access-date=January 25, 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508054738/https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/07/rubio-questions-d-c-panel-on-china-influence-united-front-beijing-communist-party/|archive-date=May 8, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.hudson.org/research/14330-the-curious-case-of-mr-wang-and-the-united-front|title=The Curious Case of Mr. Wang and the United Front|last=Parello-Plesner|first=Jonas|date=May 11, 2018|work=Hudson Institute|access-date=January 25, 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521144201/https://www.hudson.org/research/14330-the-curious-case-of-mr-wang-and-the-united-front|archive-date=May 21, 2018}} Wang is a central committee member of the Jiusan Society, one of the country's eight legally permitted minor political parties under the direction of the CCP.{{Cite web |date=December 3, 2017 |title=China's Jiusan Society to elect new leadership |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-12/03/c_136797231.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215004407/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-12/03/c_136797231.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |access-date=2020-02-15 |website=Xinhua}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.cecc.gov/sites/chinacommission.house.gov/files/2015%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Congressional-Executive Commission on China Annual Report 2015 |publisher=Congressional-Executive Commission on China |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-16-093033-1 |pages=233 |language=en |access-date=2022-12-23 |archive-date=2022-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921015613/https://www.cecc.gov/sites/chinacommission.house.gov/files/2015%20Annual%20Report.pdf |url-status=live }} Wang has also served as a counselor to the State Council appointed by Premier Li Keqiang.{{Cite web|url=http://english.counsellor.gov.cn/html/member/WangHuiyao.html|title=Counsellors' Office of the State Council|website=english.counsellor.gov.cn|access-date=2019-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009162556/http://english.counsellor.gov.cn/html/member/WangHuiyao.html|archive-date=2019-10-09|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |title=Wang Huiyao |url=http://ccg.org.cn/Director/Member.aspx?Id=1120 |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329165723/http://ccg.org.cn/Director/Member.aspx?Id=1120 |archive-date=29 March 2015 |website=Center for China and Globalization}} According to The Economist, Wang is a "something of a go-between for technocratic government ministries, Chinese entrepreneurs and foreign embassies in Beijing."{{Cite news |date=October 10, 2022 |title=Why America and Europe fret about China turning inwards |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2022/10/10/why-america-and-europe-fret-about-china-turning-inwards |access-date=2022-10-25 |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=2022-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024224126/https://www.economist.com/special-report/2022/10/10/why-america-and-europe-fret-about-china-turning-inwards |url-status=live }} Victor Gao is a vice president of the CCG.{{Cite news|last=Pinghui|first=Zhuang|date=August 19, 2020|title=US-China relations: nations failing as global leaders, academics say|work=South China Morning Post|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3098020/us-china-relations-nations-failing-global-leaders-academics|access-date=April 17, 2021|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019174821/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3098020/us-china-relations-nations-failing-global-leaders-academics|url-status=live}}

As a counselor to the State Council, CCG's Wang Huiyao and Mabel Lu Miao have advocated for easing the residency requirements for foreign citizens in China.{{Cite web |date=2015-12-12 |title=北京推出华裔卡试点, 行动意外迅速 |url=https://www.voachinese.com/a/chinese-americans-card-20151211/3099558.html |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=Voice of America |language=zh |archive-date=2023-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624150539/https://www.voachinese.com/a/chinese-americans-card-20151211/3099558.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2017-05-02 |title=Chinese "Green Cards": A Win-Win |url=https://www.chinausfocus.com/society-culture/chinese-green-cards--a-win-win |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=China-US Focus |publisher=China–United States Exchange Foundation |archive-date=2023-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624150537/https://www.chinausfocus.com/society-culture/chinese-green-cards--a-win-win |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Wang Huiyao: The Base for Choosing Talents Grows from 1.3 billion to 7 billion-Counsellors' Office of the State Council |url=http://english.counsellor.gov.cn/2017-02/09/c_1211701459.htm |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=english.counsellor.gov.cn |archive-date=2023-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624150542/http://english.counsellor.gov.cn/2017-02/09/c_1211701459.htm |url-status=live }} In 2020, the Ministry of Justice published a draft legislation outlining new paths to permanent residence, sparking controversy among Chinese nationalists who opposed the move. Wang was vilified by nationalists for supporting the permanent residency scheme.{{Cite news |date=March 12, 2020 |title=A proposal to help a few foreigners settle in China triggers a furore |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2020/03/12/a-proposal-to-help-a-few-foreigners-settle-in-china-triggers-a-furore |access-date=2023-06-24 |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=2023-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725103638/https://www.economist.com/china/2020/03/12/a-proposal-to-help-a-few-foreigners-settle-in-china-triggers-a-furore |url-status=live }}

{{Further|Propaganda in China}}

In 2021, CCG hosted an event critical of China's external propaganda as "mirroring internal propaganda in external propaganda."{{Cite web |last=Danxu |first=Yang |date=2021-05-04 |title=Chinese authorities' Weibo post lambasted for mocking India's coronavirus crisis, Society News |url=https://www.thinkchina.sg/ |access-date=2023-10-06 |website=www.thinkchina.sg |language=en |archive-date=2023-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006124643/https://www.thinkchina.sg/ |url-status=live }} Chinese scholars at a CCG event "were stark about the country's global image."{{Cite news |last1=Myers |first1=Steven Lee |last2=Qin |first2=Amy |date=2021-07-20 |title=Biden Has Angered China, and Beijing Is Pushing Back |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/world/asia/china-biden.html |access-date=2023-10-06 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2023-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012071121/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/world/asia/china-biden.html |url-status=live }} As a result, CCG and the scholars were targeted and media posts related to the event began to disappear.

CCG is a member of an alliance of think tanks, coordinated by the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, that support the Belt and Road Initiative.{{Citation |last1=Joske |first1=Alex |title=The United Front and Technology Transfer |date=2020-08-03 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K1LzDwAAQBAJ |work=China's Quest for Foreign Technology |pages=258–274 |editor-last=Hannas |editor-first=William C. |access-date=2020-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122225253/https://www.google.com/books/edition/China_s_Quest_for_Foreign_Technology/K1LzDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live |edition=1 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=Routledge |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781003035084-20 |isbn=978-1-003-03508-4 |oclc=1153338764 |s2cid=225395399 |archive-date=2020-11-22 |last2=Stoff |first2=Jeffrey |author-link=Alex Joske |editor2-last=Tatlow |editor2-first=Didi Kirsten|url-access=subscription }}

Wang Huiyao, president of CCG, was previously a vice chairman of the Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA). He has been a standing director of the China Overseas Friendship Association (COFA). Both WRSA and COFA are under the jurisdiction of the United Front Work Department (UFWD), where Wang was once on the advisory board. In a 2015 press release, CCG stated that it was "initiated by the China Global Talents Committee and the WRSA's Suggestions Committee."{{Cite web |date=October 23, 2015 |title=Latest report focuses on China's "green consensus" call for China to lead global climate change action |url=http://www.ccg.org.cn/Effect/View.aspx?Id=2826 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211014624/http://www.ccg.org.cn/Effect/View.aspx?Id=2826 |archive-date=December 11, 2018 |website=Center for China and Globalization |language=zh}}

CCG has argued that it is financed primarily by private and corporate donors without government funding,{{Cite web |title=CCG RELEASE |url=http://en.ccg.org.cn/archives/58407 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624134751/http://en.ccg.org.cn/archives/58407 |archive-date=2023-06-24 |website=Center for China and Globalization}} and that Wang's involvement with the WRSA was merely an advisory role on its council, not formal employment.{{Cite web |last=CCG Update |date=2023-03-30 |title=Facts about CCG |url=https://ccgupdate.substack.com/p/facts-about-ccg |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=CCG Update |archive-date=2023-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112221416/https://ccgupdate.substack.com/p/facts-about-ccg |url-status=live }} In 2023, CCG denied being "founded, run, or financed" by the WRSA, explaining that to navigate the stringent legal requirements for private think tanks, the organization had

incorrectly said WRSA was one initiator of CCG. In trying to survive, exist, and develop, CCG staff took advantage of what was plausibly available in an imperfect development environment and felt then it was preferable to mention what could be its most plausible link to an organization with over 100 years of history—longer than the CPC or PRC.

In 2018, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars invited CCG president Wang Huiyao to a Kissinger Institute panel on Chinese influence operations in Washington, DC on May 9. In a letter to the Wilson Center, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, then chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, asked the think tank to disclose Wang's affiliation with the United Front Work Department (UFWD). Wang ended up not confirming his attendance as a panelist at the Wilson Center, but visited the Council on Foreign Relations, The Heritage Foundation, and the Asia Society instead.{{Cite web |title=CCG美国系列活动落下帷幕 拓展智库"二轨外交"新局面 |url=http://www.ccg.org.cn/archives/34323 |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=www.ccg.org.cn |archive-date=2023-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624150538/http://www.ccg.org.cn/archives/34323 |url-status=live }} He visited the Wilson Center in person in 2019 and spoke virtually at a panel in 2020.{{Cite web |last=CCG |title=CCG访美"民间外交"开展二十余场活动: 关键时点发出智库声音 |url=http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=Mzg5NjcxNzAzOQ==&mid=2247561340&idx=1&sn=4972e8fcb713c27741cc1291a7fd330d&chksm=c07f69fcf708e0ea9b9b8c6e744beeb4b04539be6dd2ec5083aeab36eaa184fbd619289aa60e#rd |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=Weixin Official Accounts Platform |archive-date=2023-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627071709/https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=Mzg5NjcxNzAzOQ==&mid=2247561340&idx=1&sn=4972e8fcb713c27741cc1291a7fd330d&chksm=c07f69fcf708e0ea9b9b8c6e744beeb4b04539be6dd2ec5083aeab36eaa184fbd619289aa60e#rd |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=21st Century Diplomacy: Foreign Policy is Climate Policy |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/21st-century-diplomacy-foreign-policy-climate-policy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006005505/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/21st-century-diplomacy-foreign-policy-climate-policy |archive-date=2020-10-06 |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=The Wilson Center |date=2 October 2020 |language=en}}

In March 2023, U.S. news startup Semafor launched its "China and Global Business" initiative in partnership with CCG and the Chinese foreign ministry-affiliated China Public Diplomacy Association. Justin B. Smith, CEO of Semafor, wrote that the company was not "under the illusion that Chinese business leaders or other local groups operate independently of the Chinese Communist Party." Due to Chinese legal requirements, however, CCG "will take on local administrative responsibilities and coordinate with local sponsors, and Semafor will pay CCG for their services. The platform will be exclusively underwritten by corporate partnerships with no financial contributions from our local Chinese partners or the Chinese government."{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Justin |date=2023-03-06 |title=Why Semafor is launching "China and Global Business" |url=https://www.semafor.com/article/03/05/2023/why-semafor-is-launching-china-global-business |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=Semafor |language=en |archive-date=2023-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624150539/https://www.semafor.com/article/03/05/2023/why-semafor-is-launching-china-global-business |url-status=live }}

Sara Fischer and Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, reporting for Axios, wrote that the "speech and activities of Chinese Communist Party-linked groups are strongly influenced by Beijing. Semafor has not detailed how it plans to disclose to its audiences during live events or via digital coverage details about the group's affiliation to the CCP."{{Cite news |last1=Fischer |first1=Sara |last2=Allen-Ebrahimian |date=March 7, 2023 |title=Semafor's China problem |work=Axios |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/03/07/semafors-china-think-tank |access-date=June 24, 2023 |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307182849/https://www.axios.com/2023/03/07/semafors-china-think-tank |url-status=live }}

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• China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

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