Rep. Eric Swalwells bid for Californias governorship is once again raising national security concerns after his campaign accepted nearly $10,000 from the U.S. office of a powerful Beijing law firm closely aligned with the Chinese Communist Party.
According to Fox News, a newly released campaign finance filing shows that on Dec. 30, Swalwells gubernatorial committee received a $9,999 contribution from DeHeng Law Offices PC, which listed its address as Pleasanton, California. The firms own website identifies that location as its "Silicon Valley Office," and public information indicates that only one attorney is based there.
That attorney is Keliang "Clay" Zhu, a partner at DeHeng and the sole lawyer named under the "Silicon Valley Office" on the firms site. Zhu personally donated $5,000 to Swalwells gubernatorial effort in November and has previously steered more than $10,000 to the Democrats House campaigns over the years.
DeHengs origins underscore why the donations are drawing scrutiny from national security hawks and advocates of stricter foreign influence laws. A Fox News Digital review found that the firm began life in the early 1990s as the China Law Office, a subsidiary created by the Chinese Communist Partys Ministry of Justice, before being rebranded as DeHeng Law Offices in 1995.
Today, DeHeng operates more than two dozen offices across mainland China and markets itself as an independent, modern law practice. Yet the firm and its lawyers continue to maintain extensive cooperation with Chinese government ministries and major state-owned enterprises, blurring the line between private practice and state-directed influence.
Zhus own professional biography highlights his role in helping Chinese state-owned and private entities expand their footprint in the United States. He boasts of representing an "investment fund of a major state-owned enterprise in acquiring majority shares in one data analytics software company in the Silicon Valley," a deal he valued at $100 million.
Another profile of Zhu emphasizes the sheer scale of his work on behalf of Chinese capital in sensitive, high-tech sectors. It notes that he "has assisted Chinese companies and funds to complete more than $9 billion investments in the fields of chips, unmanned vehicles, new energy, artificial intelligence, industrial automation, and biopharmaceuticals in the United States."
His bio further underscores his deep engagement with U.S. regulatory and national security processes on behalf of Chinese clients. "On behalf of Chinese enterprises, he has negotiated with the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Treasury and other organizations for many times and achieved compliance plans, which greatly reduced the compliance risks for Chinese clients in the United States," the bio continued.
Zhu also touts his work navigating the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the interagency body that reviews foreign acquisitions for national security risks. His biography states that he advised "a governmental investment fund from Shenzhen for its compliance with CFIUS regulations in the U.S." and that he represented "WeChat users in a historic lawsuit that sued President Trump and successfully stopped his WeChat ban in 2020."
The Trump administration had moved aggressively against WeChat, warning that the apps "data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans personal and proprietary information." Officials at the time expressed concern that Beijing could weaponize that data to track dissidents, manipulate communications, and conduct disinformation operations inside the United States, and similar restrictions have been pursued in countries such as Australia and India, according to the White House.
Beyond his legal work in the tech and investment arenas, Zhu has also opposed state-level efforts to curb Chinese land purchases in the United States. After a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Texas law that bars Chinese nationals from owning or leasing land in the state, Zhu condemned the measure as "unfair, unconstitutional and un-American," according to AsAmNews, a site focused on Asian-American and Pacific Islander issues.
He has taken a similar stance against a Florida statute designed to prevent individuals from countries designated as foreign adversaries, including China, from buying up land in the state. These laws have emerged in response to mounting concerns that Chinese entities are acquiring farmland, property near military installations, and other strategically located parcels across the country.
National security experts have repeatedly warned that such purchases could provide Beijing with leverage over Americas food supply, surveillance opportunities near sensitive facilities, or other strategic advantages. Those warnings have spurred legislative responses in states such as Texas, Florida, Arizona, and others, where lawmakers have sought to limit or monitor land acquisitions tied to hostile foreign powers.
Zhu, however, has framed these measures as discriminatory and harmful to Asian Americans more broadly. "All Asian Americans will feel the stigma and the chilling effect created by this Florida law, just like the discriminatory laws did to our ancestors more than a hundred years ago," he said in 2023 about an anti-land grab bill, according to a press release from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. "We shall not go back."
For critics of Beijings influence operations, the convergence of Zhus political activism, his legal work for Chinese state-linked entities, and his financial support for Swalwell is deeply troubling. Michael Lucci, a leading China policy analyst and the founder and CEO of State Armor Action, argued that the donations highlight a glaring vulnerability in Americas campaign finance system.
Lucci urged lawmakers to treat such contributions as a form of foreign corruption rather than routine political giving. He called for Congress to reform the "campaign finance laws to define donations made on behalf of foreign adversaries to be bribes."
In a sharply worded statement, Lucci tied the latest revelations to Swalwells earlier controversies involving suspected Chinese espionage. "Congressman Swalwell must finally stop playing footsie with Americas foremost adversary: Communist China. First was his fiery romance with Fang Fang, a CCP spy, and now hes caught taking campaign checks from Communist Chinas favorite big law firm," Lucci told Fox News Digital.
He went on to argue that the law must be updated to reflect the realities of modern foreign influence campaigns. "Congress must fix this problem by reforming campaign finance laws to define donations made on behalf of foreign adversaries to be bribes, and to impose criminal penalties upon those who make such donations. And Congress should go further by altogether prohibiting the acceptance of payment for any lobbying or other influence work on behalf of an American adversary, as the State of Texas did last year."
DeHengs leadership in China further illustrates the firms entanglement with the Communist Partys political apparatus. Several of its senior partners hold or have held positions within the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a key advisory body that operates under CCP leadership and serves as a central instrument of the regimes United Front influence strategy.
The CPPCC describes itself as a "key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation" under the Partys direction, according to its official website. In practice, Western intelligence and policy experts view it as a vehicle for shaping foreign and domestic opinion in ways that advance Beijings interests, including in the United States.
One prominent DeHeng figure, Zhixu Wu, serves as "Director and Senior Partner" of the firms Kunming office and is deeply embedded in the CPPCC structure. His biography notes that he is a member of the "Standing Committee of the 13th Kunming Committee of the CPPCC" and a member "of the 12th Yunnan Committee of the CPPCC."
Wus profile also highlights recognition he received from the Communist Partys United Front apparatus, which is tasked with co-opting elites and influencing foreign societies. He was awarded in 2017 with "the title of Excellent League Member for the second assistance event of the National Lawyers Service Group," an honor approved by the "Eight Bureau of United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee, Guidance Department of Lawyers Notarization Work of the Ministry of Justice."
Another senior partner, Degang Zheng of the Shenzhen office, openly advertises his political role in the Partys consultative system. His bio states that he is a "Member of the Executive Committee" of the CPPCCs Shenzhen chapter, underscoring the overlap between DeHengs legal practice and the CCPs political machinery.
In Hangzhou, senior partner Hongli MA similarly emphasizes his CPPCC credentials. He notes that he was recognized for "Three consecutive years of outstanding CPPCC members in Binjiang District, Hangzhou in 2014, 2015, 2016."
At the top of the firms hierarchy, the connections to the Chinese state become even more explicit. Li Wang, a leading attorney and the chief global partner of DeHengs Beijing office, highlights that she "has served as general legal counsel for scores of Ministries of the PRC, state-owned enterprises, and private enterprises and institutions."
Her biography further notes that she is the "Commissary of Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference Beijing Committee" and the "Chairman of Belt & Road Service Connections." The latter role ties her to Beijings flagship Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure and influence campaign that U.S. officials have repeatedly warned is designed to expand Chinas strategic reach at the expense of Western interests.
For conservatives who have long warned about the CCPs penetration of American political and economic life, the fact that such a firm is now financially backing a prominent Democratic politician is deeply alarming. Swalwells history only amplifies those concerns.
The California congressmans ties to China first came under intense scrutiny several years ago, when it emerged that a Chinese national named Christine Fang, also known as "Fang Fang," had cultivated close relationships with Swalwell and other local and national politicians. U.S. officials concluded that she was part of a broader counterintelligence operation linked to Beijing, designed to infiltrate and influence American political circles.
Swalwell has insisted that he severed all contact with Fang as soon as he was briefed by U.S. intelligence agencies about the potential threat. A subsequent congressional ethics investigation did not find that he had committed any formal wrongdoing, a point his defenders frequently cite.
Nevertheless, Republican leadership in the House determined that the risk was too great to ignore, particularly given Swalwells access to sensitive information. He was removed from the House Intelligence Committee after the GOP regained control of the chamber, with then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy explicitly citing Swalwells past entanglement with a suspected Chinese spy as justification.
For Lucci and other critics, the latest donations from DeHeng and Zhu show that Swalwell has not fully internalized the lessons of that episode. Lucci told Fox News Digital that the congressman should make a clean break with any entities tied to Americas chief geopolitical rival.
He argued that Swalwell ought to set an example by divesting himself of the controversial funds rather than benefiting from them. Lucci said the Democrat should pledge to end "any further dalliances with America's foreign adversaries," and re-donate the money he received from DeHeng and Zhu "to an organization that fights the evils of communism."
The broader question now facing voters and lawmakers is whether existing ethics and campaign finance rules are adequate to address the sophisticated influence operations mounted by adversarial regimes such as China. While foreign nationals are barred from directly contributing to U.S. campaigns, the law is far murkier when it comes to American-based entities and individuals whose professional lives are deeply intertwined with foreign governments and state-owned enterprises.
Conservatives have long argued that Democrats, particularly those from deep-blue states like California, have been too willing to overlook or downplay the risks posed by Beijing in pursuit of campaign cash, business ties, or ideological alignment on issues such as climate policy and global governance. Swalwells acceptance of money from a firm with roots in the CCPs Ministry of Justice and leadership embedded in the CPPCC will likely reinforce those suspicions on the right.
As the 2024 election cycle intensifies and Swalwell seeks higher office in one of the nations most influential states, the pressure on him to explain his relationship with DeHeng and Zhu is likely to grow. Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell and Zhu for comment on this story, but did not hear back by publication.
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