Republicans question ‘suspicious’ CCP ties to Biden ally: ‘The American people must know’

FIRST ON FOX: Republicans are sounding the alarm about the possible extent of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence in the White House after Fox News Digital reported about a CCP-tied company's deep connections to a longtime Biden ally who served as U.S. Ambassador to China.

The Max S. Baucus Institute at the University of Montana School of Law, which was co-founded by former Ambassador to China Max Baucus and his wife in 2017 after their return from China following the Obama administration, released its annual report last month thanking Chinese company Wanxiang Group as one of its "major" corporate sponsors.

Lu Guanqiu, the founder of Wanxiang Group, was posthumously awarded the title of "National Outstanding Communist Party Member" by the CCP in 2021, four years after his death. Chinese President Xi Jinping previously praised Lu as a "pioneer of reform of private enterprises."

Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital said the CCP’s influence in the U.S. is a threat to national security.

"We’ve known for a long time that Biden Inc. is deeply intertwined with the CCP," said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. "It is not surprising that those associated with the Bidens, including former Ambassador Baucus, are also involved in potentially shady dealings with Beijing. We must put an end to the never-ending methods Communist China utilizes to peddle influence in the USA."

"The ties to money with China have always been there, they are a huge source of money," said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La. "As these shady business dealings continue to be revealed, the American people must know the extent of Joe ‘Big Guy’ Biden’s involvement and what it means for our national security."

"These recent developments are just a small cog in the big wheel of the Biden crime family’s suspicious activities," he said. "This evidence is exactly why Congress is working to get ahold of the 148 bank-triggered suspicious activity reports that are being concealed from us. As the 118th continues, we will be more deeply involved in the investigations of their operations. Our top priority will be looking into evidence that suggests actual criminal intent and organized crime. We will have every individual identified and every dollar tracked."

OBAMA AMBASSADOR’S INSTITUTE FUNDED BY CHINESE COMPANY THAT TOUTS FOUNDER AS ‘OUTSTANDING’ CCP MEMBER

The Baucus Institute currently offers a China study abroad program, called the "Baucus Institute-Wanxiang Fellow Summer Study Abroad Program," which sends University of Montana students to Hangzhou. Co-hosting the program with the Baucus Institute is the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), which was founded by top CCP official Tung Chee-hwa.

Tung is vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which is part of the CCP’s united front system, which operates to advance the party’s interests at home and abroad.

According to the Baucus Institute’s website, the China study abroad program is almost fully funded by CUSEF.

"Thanks to the generosity of CUSEF, nearly all expenses are covered, including lodging, travel insurance, breakfasts at hotels, and group meals," reads the program application. "However, flights to and from China and expenses such as overweight luggage and personal purchases are NOT covered."

HUNTER BIDEN, CHINA, CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS: MYSTERY SWIRLS AROUND PENN BIDEN CENTER

Students at the Baucus Institute have also gone on to work for Wanxiang Group.

"For the sake of making a difference, I applied to be a Baucus Climate Scholar," reads one testimonial in the institute’s Spring 2022 newsletter. "This summer I’m excited to be working with Wanxiang Corporation to draft a report regarding sustainable topics and I’m super enthusiastic about the final product!"

The Max S. Baucus Institute and its director, University of Montana law professor Sam Panarella, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiries asking how much money Wanxiang Group or CUSEF has given to the institute or whether it receives any funding from the University of Montana.

The Baucus Institute became a 501(c)(3) last year, meaning it's approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt, charitable organization, and is a tax write-off for donors.

HUNTER BIDEN, AN OBAMA AMBASSADOR AND CHINESE BUSINESSMEN: A ‘VERY GOOD RELATIONSHIP’

Baucus, who served as a senator from Montana from 1978 to 2014, has raised eyebrows for his views on China.

In May 2020, Baucus went on CNN International and compared then-President Trump's rhetoric on China to rhetoric from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

"The administration's rhetoric is so strong against China, it's over the top. We're entering an era which is similar to Joe McCarthy back when he was red-baiting in the State Department and attacking communism, and a little bit like Hitler in the '30s," Baucus said.

"Now in the United States, if anybody says anything reasonable about China, he or she feels intimidated, worried his head is going to be chopped off. Back in the '30s in Germany, it was very similar," he continued.

In April 2019, Baucus said it was "wrong" to discuss the U.S. "decoupling" from China.

"On the U.S. side, for example, I am just concerned that there may be some thinking in the U.S. that we should prevent China's rise," he told CGTN, a CCP-controlled news channel, in April 2019. "That is not good faith. That is bad faith. It will cause problems."

"I think, frankly speaking, it is wrong to talk about decoupling because that has very negative connotations," he said at the time.

BIDEN’S NEW CLEAN ENERGY CZAR SAID HE HAS THE ‘HIGHEST REGARD’ FOR CCP OFFICIAL, CALLED HIM ‘FRIEND’

Meanwhile, Wanxiang America Corporation, a U.S. subsidiary of Wanxiang Group, based in Elgin, Illinois, has become prevalent in the American auto industry. According to China Daily, a CCP-run newspaper, it has 28 manufacturing operations in the U.S.

In 2010, for example, the state of Illinois awarded $4 million in public funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help Wanxiang America and New Generation Power build a solar power facility in Rockford, Illinois.

In February 2014, Wanxiang Group purchased the U.S. company Fisker Automotive and renamed it Karma Automotive, a luxury electric vehicles manufacturer that is headquartered in California. The 2014 purchase included converting an abandoned manufacturing facility in Biden’s home state of Delaware.

Biden hosted a White House meeting with Wanxiang America President Pin Ni and Wanxiang Resources Co. President Youhong Han on July 25, 2014, according to White House visitor logs first reported last year by The Daily Mail. According to the CCP-run China Daily, Biden had "invited" the Wanxiang executives to visit several cities in the U.S. at the time, including Washington, Detroit, and Dover, Delaware.

JOE BIDEN MET WITH AT LEAST 14 OF HUNTER BIDEN'S BUSINESS ASSOCIATES WHILE VICE PRESIDENT

Hunter Biden is also linked to former Amb. Baucus and Wanxiang Group.

Hunter previously invested in Fisker, and in 2014, Hunter purchased a $142,300 Fisker electric sports cars using funds from his Rosemont Seneca firm that were wired from a Singapore company controlled by Kazakhstan banker Kenes Rakishev, whose father-in-law was the mayor of the capital city of Astana at the time, and bank records stated the purpose as "For a Car," according to a 2020 report by Senate Republicans.

A client of Hunter’s Seneca Global Advisors company, GreatPoint Energy, also previously partnered with Wanxiang in 2012 for a $1.25 billion natural gas plant in China, the New York Post reported in August.

Less than a week after the Wanxiang executives met with Hunter’s father at the White House in July 2014, Pin Ni sent Hunter an email about the Fisker, according to a review of emails from Hunter’s infamous abandoned laptop that have been verified by Fox News Digital.

"My name is Pin Ni and I am the president of Wanxiang America which bought Fisker assets a few months ago. Last Friday when we visited DC, I heard that your Fisker is out of order and could not get serviced. Sorry," Pin wrote. "Yesterday the bankruptcy judge had approved Old Fisker's plan of liquidation in which we will be offering warrantee service to all Fisker owners, it would be our honor to get your Fisker fixed."

Hunter then informed Pin that he ended up selling the car back to the dealer "at a big loss," to which Pin responded that he would "make sure your next Fisker will exceed the expectation," including a smiling emoticon.

Hunter’s car purchase has been a point of heavy scrutiny during federal prosecutors’ ongoing investigation into alleged tax fraud by the first son.

Fox News Digital also previously reported that Hunter boasted about having a "very good relationship" with Ambassador Baucus prior to his business associates arranging multiple meetings with him, according to emails.

Less than two months after Baucus was sworn in by then-Vice President Joe Biden in late February 2014, Hunter and his business associates at BHR Partners began arranging meetings with Baucus.

"On Baucus- we have a very very good relationship and I can ask anything we need- don't need his best friend if that's why you are mtg him," Hunter wrote on April 21, 2014.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The revelation of the Baucus Institute's ties to Wanxiang comes days after the former ambassador did an interview with Politico, where he reflected on his long career in the Senate and his role representing the United States in China.

During the interview, Baucus revealed that he had "very good Chinese friends," positioned "high up in the government," who told him during the 2020 election that they wanted Biden to win over former President Donald Trump.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News' Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.