Chinese state-run media is claiming an Axios report alleging a Chinese spy developed extensive ties with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is “complete fiction.”
Global Times, a Communist Chinese Party-controlled media outlet, published a report recently that claimed Axios’ report was “a tale cooked up” to “poison China-US relations,” citing a “source.”
The Chinese outlet falsely reported that Swalwell “denied the accusations.” The Global Times’ December 21 report stated: “One California politician Axios named was California Congressman Eric Swalwell, who denied the accusations and noted the report was political retaliation for his criticism and impeachment of the incumbent president.”
In fact, Swalwell has not denied developing extensive ties with the suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang. The two reportedly met in 2011, when Swalwell was a council member in Dublin City, California, and Fang was living in California as an international student. Fang would act as a campaign bundler for Swalwell and placed at least one intern in his congressional offices.
Swalwell has not confirmed or denied whether his relationship with Fang had ever been romantic. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) briefed members of Congress earlier this month, two sources told The Federalist that the two did have a sexual relationship and that the FBI was so concerned about the relationship that it looked into whether Swalwell had tipped Fang off about its counterintelligence investigation into her. Fang left the U.S. abruptly in 2015.
The Global Times’ “source” said the Axios report was “completely fabricated to slander China, and urged the US media and relevant personnel to stop violating a Chinese citizen’s reputation and cease poisoning China-US relations with a Cold War mentality.”
The Global Times report cited a professor at a Chinese university named Shen Yi who claimed American intelligence agents have “no evidence” on American politicians and “have to cut in by hinting about their lifestyle and social activities.”
“Is the story based on facts and evidence? Is it of any value to report things that happened almost 10 years ago?” Shen said.
The Global Times report also echoed Swalwell in his accusation that the Axios report was somehow retaliation for criticizing President Donald Trump.
Lü Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times that Axios’ report “exposed how a fabricated story can be used as a weapon to attack domestic political rivals,” and to “smear China.”
House Republicans have called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to remove Swalwell from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Pelosi has said she has “no concerns” about him.
Swalwell, who was one of the most vocal proponents of the Russia collusion hoax that accused Trump of being compromised by Russia, has remained defiant, refusing to answer questions on Fang and continuing to criticize the president on Twitter.
As Breitbart News has previously reported, the New York Times has not yet reported on Swalwell’s alleged ties to Fang, despite numerous major outlets doing so.
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