While the U.S. was focused on investigating Russian interference in U.S. politics, China was plotting its own campaign to influence the young Trump administration. It got uncomfortably close.
Illustration by Luis Grañena
Listen to SupChina editor-at-large and Sinica podcast host Kaiser Kuo read this article.
Elliott Broidy was riding high after Donald Trump’s election day victory in 2016. The Los Angeles businessman had been one of Trump’s top fundraisers during the campaign, helping raise more than $150 million for the Republican Party. And as a reward, he was soon named deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and vice chair of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
For the barrel-chested and mustachioed Broidy, this represented something of a comeback. While he had served as finance chairman of the RNC from 2007 to 2008, and had once hosted a fundraiser at his Bel Air mansion for President George W. Bush, Broidy’s reputation had been tarnished in 2009, when he was accused and pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to gain business from a New York state pension fund. He more or less laid low for seven years.
But with Trump in the White House, the 59-year-old Broidy was o
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The former Defense Secretary under George W. Bush and Barack Obama talks about Xi Jinping's relations with the PLA, Taiwan and how the U.S. should deal with China and Russia.
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