EXCLUSIVE: Karen Bass Raked In Cash From Chinese Intel-Tied Bankers Before Hiring Them

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ transition advisory team enlisted two Chinese intelligence-tied bankers who have fundraised for her and a nonprofit she helps lead, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.

Bass appointed Dominic Ng, CEO of East West Bank, and Simon Pang, co-founder of Royal Business Bank, to her mayoral transition advisory team in December 2022, according to the City of Los Angeles. In total, Ng, East West Bank and Pang have donated upwards of $1 million to Bass’ mayoral campaign and the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles, where Bass serves as an advisor to the board of directors, according to the nonprofit.

While it is unclear what Ng and Pang did while serving on Bass’ mayoral transition advisory team, both have extensive ties to the Chinese government and have also been listed as holding positions within arms of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD).

Bass’ office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Pang could not be reached for comment. A Royal Business Bank spokesperson declined to comment.

An East West Bank spokesperson acknowledged that Ng had previously participated in two Chinese government organizations, but denied his involvement in a third, when the DCNF asked about several Chinese government entities identifying him as a member. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE — Boston Mayor Opens City Hall Doors To Chinese Communist Party Members)

“I absolutely believe that anyone holding a United Front position and then landing a spot on a mayor’s transition team is a huge red flag,” Sam Cooper, a Canadian investigative reporter and author of “Wilful Blindness: How A Network Of Narcos, Tycoons And CCP Agents Infiltrated The West,” told the DCNF. “In fact, they’re often placed on these teams as a reward for channeling significant donations.”

“When donors connected to United Front groups have significant wealth and show up constantly around politicians, they’re there for a reason,” Cooper said.

The Bass administration’s Chinese government-ties have come under increased scrutiny from media outlets and China experts, like Gordon Chang, following a June 2025 DCNF investigation revealing Bass appointed the son of a Democratic fundraiser and CCP intelligence arm official to serve as the city’s liaison for Asian-Americans and director of commission appointments.

“Los Angeles is now a wide-open city for China’s communists,” Chang, author of “Plan Red: China’s Project To Destroy America,” told the DCNF. “Angelenos can thank the CCP sympathizer-in-chief, Karen Bass. Karen Bass resists federal agents and welcomes China’s communists. It’s very clear where her sympathies lie.”

‘Magic Weapon’

Bass’ congressional and mayoral campaigns as well as the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles have received as much as $33,000 from Pang, who has been identified as an official by a UFWD affiliate tasked with co-opting U.S. lawmakers.

Pang donated $3,800 to Bass’ congressional campaign between 2019 and 2020, and has contributed $4,700 to Bass’ mayoral campaign since 2021, according to Federal Election Commission and Los Angeles Ethics Commission filings.

Pang has reportedly held multiple positions with the Chinese government, such as serving as the “Southern California coordinator” for the Chinese People’s Association For Friendship With Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), according to the Burbank, California government website.

CPAFFC is a United Front affiliate, according to an October 2020 U.S. State Department announcement, which designated the Beijing-based organization as a “foreign mission.” The Chinese government tasks CPAFFC with influencing foreign leaders in order to promote China’s agenda, the announcement states. Among other things, CPAFFC allegedly leveraged its influence to pressure lawmakers in Irvine, California to sever ties with Taiwan’s government in 2006, according to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.

“[T]he United Front is the CCP’s first ‘magic weapon’ to defeat adversaries,” Jacqueline Deal, an advisory board member at State Armor, a nonprofit focused on countering the CCP, told the DCNF. “This weapon infiltrates adversaries to subvert them from within — so CCP agents are tasked with operating inside our society to at once promote the party’s interests and degrade the U.S. political system, economy and national security.”

The website for the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles states that it has received between $5,000 and $24,999 from Pang during Bass’ tenure as mayor. Established in 2014, the fund is the brainchild of Bass’ predecessor, former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, according to the nonprofit. The fund sparked concerns of ethical violations and corruption during Garcetti’s tenure for allegedly allowing the mayor to solicit contributions outside the bounds of campaign finance laws, The Los Angeles Times reported in 2015.

CPAFFC’s former chairwoman, Li Xiaolin, awarded Pang — whose Chinese name is Feng Zhenfa — the honorary title of “Sino-U.S. Friendship Envoy” in 2019 for his contribution to the development of friendship between American and Chinese people, according to a DCNF translation of a Chinese government announcement.

One photo accompanying that announcement shows Pang wearing a “Mao suit” alongside CPAFFC’s chairwoman within Beijing’s Great Hall of the People during a Chinese government reception celebrating the communist nation’s 70th anniversary.

CPAFFC’s subsequent chairman, Lin Songtian, appointed Pang to serve as an “overseas honorary director” of CPAFFC’s Shanghai branch in February 2023, according to a DCNF translation of a CPAFFC announcement, which includes a photo showing Lin handing Pang a framed document.

The Chinese government also entrusts CPAFFC with developing sister-city relationships between China and foreign localities, and “may exploit these pacts to press its agendas,” according to a report published by the Director of National Intelligence in July 2022.

By December 2019, Pang and a nonprofit he heads, called the U.S.-Sino Friendship Association, had already led nine delegations of U.S. lawmakers to China to meet with CPAFFC officials, and continued to take lawmakers to China until at least 2023, Chinese government announcements indicate. In one instance, Pang helped bring 21 mayors to meet with CPAFFC officials in Hubei Province in May 2014, Chinese state media reported. The majority of those lawmakers have been Democratic Party politicians, according to a DCNF review.

Although there is no evidence Bass participated in any of Pang’s China delegations, Pang connected Bass with Chinese-American donors when she ran for mayor.

In July 2022, Pang arranged for Bass to meet with Chinese-American entrepreneurs in California, where they discussed crime, homelessness and business, according to Chinese-language news outlet UNECNE. Five of the 10 attendees identified ultimately donated to Bass’ mayoral campaign, Los Angeles Ethics Commission records show.

‘Political Leverage’

Bass and the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles have also received upwards of $1 million from East West Bank and Ng, who has been identified as an official by three Chinese government organizations.

Ng contributed $1,500 to Bass’ mayoral campaign in April 2022, according to the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, and the East West Bank Foundation has donated between $100,000 and $999,999 to the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles during the current reporting period, the nonprofit’s website states.

“East West is deeply committed to the well-being of the communities it serves, and the bank has supported the Mayor’s Fund under multiple administrations — even prior to Mayor Bass’ tenure,” an East West Bank spokeswoman told the DCNF.

A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles told the DCNF that East West Bank Foundation’s contributions helped support Bass’ “mission to end homelessness,” but did not respond to questions about Ng or Pang’s Chinese government-ties or the fund’s vetting process for donors.

In February 2023, East West Bank published a statement alleging that Ng had served at an “executive-director level” in an “honorary position” at the China Overseas Exchange Association (COEA), and had been invited, but declined to join the China Overseas Friendship Association (COFA), after the DCNF reported that both organizations listed him as an official that month.

A Chinese government announcement reveals that the UFWD controlled COEA in its final years until 2019, when COEA was subsumed by COFA, which is a UFWD organization, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), a legislative commission created by Congress to investigate the national security implications of the relationship between the U.S. and China.

In March 2015, Chinese government and state media reports revealed Ng also attended the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), whose delegates “serve as proxies for CCP interests,” according to USCC.

“Mr. Ng attended a ceremonial session of the [CPPCC] in March 2015 as a non-official, non-voting guest observer. He had been invited in his capacity as then-chairman of the Committee of 100 (C100),” the East West Bank spokeswoman said. “Although the invitation was extended while he was still C100 chairman, due to scheduling constraints, he attended the session after his term had concluded in 2014.”

While C100 claims merely to seek “constructive dialogue and relationships” between the U.S. and China, the nonprofit has been repeatedly accused of promoting CCP interests, and its members have included numerous individuals listed by the Chinese government and United Front as officials, the DCNF previously reported. One joint report published by the Hoover Institution and Asia Society — where Ng served as a board member— alleges that the Chinese Consulate tasks C100 with co-opting prominent Chinese-Americans.

“Mr. Ng had no knowledge of any involvement by the [UFWD] during his interactions, and, to this day, has not knowingly engaged with UFWD representatives,” East West Bank’s spokeswoman said.

During his tenure as C100’s chairman between May 2011 and April 2014, Ng interacted with individuals affiliated with UFWD arms, such as during a November 2013 C100 delegation he led to Beijing to meet with Chinese government officials, including the CPPCC’s deputy chairman, Han Qide, who was then also a CPAFFC advisor, according to a DCNF translation of Chinese government reports.

In addition to their connection through the City of Los Angeles and the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles, Bass and Ng have also attended several events together in 2025.

Most recently, Bass “delivered a tribute” to Ng in June 2025 during an event held by a nonprofit called the Los Angeles Police Reserve Foundation (LAPRF), where East West Bank’s senior vice president serves as a director. During the event, LAPRF gave Ng the “Twice a Citizen” award for his “dedicated service to the LA community,” according to an East West Bank announcement.

“The bottom line is this: donations from United Front-linked actors are part of Xi’s strategy to embed the CCP inside democratic systems,” Cooper said. “The ultimate goal is to build such deep financial and political leverage that they can demand their preferred candidates rise within government ranks.”

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