2026-09-21T14:51:22-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
加州一个家族向州长加文·纽瑟姆、卡玛拉·哈里斯以及其他加州政坛领军人物捐赠了超过440万美元的政治捐款。如今，这个家族与臭名昭著的涉嫌“甜心间谍”方芳（又名克里斯汀·方）及其他中国政府官员的所谓过往关联，将他们卷入了一场关于外国势力干预美国政治的持续争论中。
据州和联邦竞选记录显示，尹氏家族通过在加州经营麦当劳特许加盟店赚得数百万美元，并成为政坛的多产捐赠者。最新披露的联邦调查局关于方芳的文件将该家族家长陈振尹（通常以其首字母“C.C.”为人所知）描述为通过其创立的组织与方芳有过一段职业上的往来。
负责保护美国机构免受中国政府渗透的国家安全专家表示，他们已记录下C.C.尹的兄弟亨利·尹与中国政府外国影响力部门——统一战线之间的所谓互动。
近年来，随着一系列丑闻曝光——据称中国影响力代理人得以接触从小镇市长、国会议员到纽约州州长的民选官员，与中国有直接联系的富裕商界领袖的互动受到了更严格的审查。这类关系往往通过政治捐款得以促成。
帮助议员侦测外国影响力行动的公司State Armor董事会成员杰奎琳·迪尔对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，中国政府拥有“广泛且协调的主导战略，依赖于塑造美国政策，以便随着时间推移让我们变弱，而[中国]变强”。
她表示，她怀疑政治捐款被用于帮助“阻止这些领导人注意到中国共产党的政治干预”。目前没有证据显示尹氏家族成员被拉拢参与此类活动。
C.C.尹对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻称：“我爱美国，我强烈谴责任何外国政府干预美国政治或破坏我们民主的企图。”亨利·尹未回应置评请求。
尹氏家族向政治事业捐赠数百万美元
现年89岁的C.C.尹以其慈善事业和白手起家的故事闻名于北加州：他于20世纪60年代带着仅100美元来到美国，随后建立了成功的特许经营业务。
据APAPA官网显示，他和兄弟亨利·尹创立并运营了一个名为“亚太裔公共事务委员会”（APAPA）的组织，为受青睐的政治候选人提供支持，并协助向地方、州和联邦官员办公室输送实习生和顾问。
C.C.尹对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，他创立APAPA是为了帮助“年轻人和社区成员培养领导技能，了解政府运作方式、投票、服务社区并参与我们的民主”。
“当这个国家给予我们机会时，我们有责任回馈社会，”他说。
尹氏家族的部分捐赠以大额政治捐款的形式进行。
根据州和联邦选举委员会的记录，该家族直接或通过C.C.尹的麦当劳特许经营业务，向加州州级政治事业捐赠了近300万美元，另外向联邦竞选活动捐赠了1,455,027美元。
其中包括向加文·纽瑟姆过往竞选活动捐赠364,817美元、向他2019年的就职委员会捐赠80,000美元，以及向纽瑟姆指导下的一家非营利组织捐赠50,000美元。
州记录显示，尹氏家族个人以及C.C.尹的麦当劳门店在2018年至2025年间向加州副州长埃莱妮·库纳拉基斯的竞选活动捐赠了221,700美元。前副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的竞选团队在2019年至2024年间收到了214,300美元捐款，前加州州财政部长约翰·蒋的竞选团队则收到了115,680美元。
与涉嫌间谍方芳的关联
白宫于8月解密的联邦调查局文件显示，C.C.尹与涉嫌中国间谍方“克里斯汀”方芳此前关系密切，方芳曾与名誉扫地的前加州国会议员埃里克·斯沃威尔发生性关系，并于2015年逃往中国。
文件包含了斯沃威尔在2015年和2016年接受联邦调查局问询的内容，他在问询中指认方芳是他在APAPA的“联络人”。根据文件，斯沃威尔在一次问询中表示，APAPA的一名高级官员将他引荐给了方芳。该官员的姓名在报告中被打码，但两名熟悉报告内容的消息人士告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，此人正是C.C.尹。
2013年，库比蒂诺市一名官员在Facebook上发布的一张照片显示，方芳与C.C.尹和亨利·尹一同出席了一场有15人参加的APAPA活动。
APAPA主席克里斯·康塞普西翁对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示：“现任领导层不知道方芳曾在该全国性组织担任过官方职务。”
“我们了解到，她曾与一个现已停止运作的地方分会有关联，”他说。“就像数百甚至数千名参加公共活动的社区成员一样，与APAPA成员合影并不意味着她是APAPA的官员、董事会成员、员工或代表。”
目前没有证据显示亨利·尹或C.C.尹在方芳参与APAPA期间知晓她所谓的间谍活动。
与中国政府的会面
在注意到APAPA与方芳的关联后，迪尔深入调查了亨利·尹的背景。亨利·尹此前担任APAPA全国董事会主席，目前仍是董事会成员。
她发现一系列中国媒体报道显示，自2013年以来，亨利·尹出席了10场由中国政府及其外国影响力部门统一战线官员主办的在中国境内的活动。统一战线在2015年和2023年发布了关于亨利·尹所谓会面的中文报道。
亨利·尹将其相关活动描述为“ networking（社交/人脉拓展）”。迪尔表示，他与中国的关系“似乎是一种公开的合作关系”。
其中一篇报道称，尹某于2015年6月前往云南省保山市，与市委统战部举行会谈，就“进一步加强联系”达成“共识”。报道将尹称为他们“加州-中国经贸科技互动指定联系人”。
2013年的另一篇中国政府机构发布的文章描述了尹与四川省省会成都的一名中国政府官员的会面，称他被提供了一个“四川省海外人才招聘顾问”的职位。目前没有证据显示尹接受了该职位，这发生在美中关系较为友好的时期。
2023年统一战线的一份声明称，包括亨利·尹在内的“硅谷中国企业家”代表团访问了他的家乡成都，并“为成都与硅谷之间的投资合作搭建了新桥梁”。
亨利·尹在2016年接受《东湾时报》采访时表示，当时他任职于加州经济发展委员会，其目标是推动中美之间的商业关系，这也是他作为跨国企业家数十年经历的一部分。
“我做了很多人脉拓展，如今很高兴看到这些人脉带来了成果，”他对该报表示。
亨利·尹及其兄弟均未被美国执法部门指控为外国代理人或从事损害美国利益的活动。
外交政策研究所研究员、迈阿密大学教授琼·托伊费尔·德雷尔对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，尽管政治捐款和顾问职位是统一战线常用的影响力手段，但这些行为以及前往中国进行外交和商务旅行可能完全是无辜的。
“成功的中国企业家希望帮助他们原籍国的经济发展，这本身并没有错，”德雷尔说，但她补充道：“我们应该摒弃‘中国存在真正意义上的私营企业’这种想法。它们在某种程度上都受到政府的管控。”
外交事务智囊团詹姆斯敦基金会研究员谢丽尔·余对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，中国政府试图接触人脉广泛的美国人，无论这些个人的意图如何。
“统一战线就是这样运作的。他们建立这些友好的长期关系，然后在某个时刻提出要求，”她说。
2024年路透社的一篇报道称，美国政府据称也针对中国开展了自身的影响力行动，包括一场秘密社交媒体运动，以转变中国公众对习近平主席政府的看法。
康塞普西翁表示，他的组织“与中华人民共和国、中国共产党或统一战线没有任何关系”，并表示成员的“个人旅行、人际关系、就业经历和观点”“不应被归咎于APAPA”。
顶级政治人脉
尹氏家族的国内外联系有时使他们处于中国外交与美国政治的交汇点。
据其组织在纽约的台湾报纸《世界日报》联合撰写的一篇报道称，C.C.尹被认为协助安排了纽瑟姆2023年的中国之行。
该报文章称，C.C.尹在“受州长办公室委托”后开始就此次访问进行谈判，“正式向总领事张建民转达了纽瑟姆州长访华的意愿”。
据该报报道，亨利·尹作为顾问陪同州长参加了2023年10月的访问，期间纽瑟姆会见了中国国家主席习近平。
亨利·尹还曾在APAPA活动中与纽瑟姆合影，并将照片分享到了Facebook上。
纽瑟姆的发言人未回应置评请求。这位州长预计将角逐2028年民主党总统候选人提名。
亨利·尹还曾担任加州国会议员罗·卡纳的顾问。卡纳同样被认为是2028年民主党总统候选人的潜在人选，目前担任众议院中国共产党问题特别委员会 ranking member（少数党成员），该委员会的设立目的是监控中国政府对美国政治的影响。自2017年以来，亨利·尹和C.C.尹个人已向卡纳的国会竞选活动捐赠了15,800美元。
卡纳的发言人后来就亨利·尹与这位有影响力的议员的关系发表的声明，与卡纳自己的社交媒体帖子存在矛盾。
卡纳2019年的一条Facebook帖子包含一张亨利·尹为这位国会议员送上生日蛋糕的照片，配文宣布“亨利将担任我的外贸与经济发展高级顾问”。2020年的一条帖子中，他称亨利·尹是“好朋友”。
直到本月，尹某在其领英页面上仍标注自2019年起担任“美国众议院[罗]卡纳议员高级顾问”。该页面现已被删除。
今年2月，卡纳与亨利一同出席了由APAPA附属政治行动委员会“亚裔美国人促进善治”在加州桑尼维尔举办的活动。根据该委员会网站的存档信息，亨利·尹和C.C.尹均被列为该委员会的董事会成员。
本月早些时候，卡纳的发言人告诉《纽约邮报》，亨利·尹“从未在这位国会议员手下担任过正式职务”。在随后发给哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的一份声明中，卡纳的通讯总监萨拉·德鲁里表示，亨利·尹“作为数十名志愿领袖之一服务了一年”。
德鲁里在声明中补充道，“APAPA是一个数十年来致力于赋能亚裔美国人的组织，将其与中国政府联系起来是丑陋的反亚裔诽谤。”
Family tied to suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang gave $4.4 million to Newsom, other California politicians
2026-09-21T14:51:22-0400 / CBS News
A California family gave over $4.4 million in political donations to Governor Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris and other leading California politicians. And now, that family’s alleged past links to infamous suspected honeypot spy Fang Fang, also known as Christine Fang, and other Chinese government officials have thrust them into an ongoing debate over foreign influence in American politics.
The Yin family made millions running McDonald’s franchises in the Golden State — and became prolific donors to politicians, according to state and federal campaign records. Newly released FBI files about Fang describe the family patriarch Chei Chen Yin, commonly known by his initials “C.C.”, as a one-time professional associate of Fang through an organization he founded.
And national security experts tasked with protecting U.S. institutions from infiltration by the Chinese government say they have documented alleged interactions between C.C. Yin’s brother, Henry Yin, and the foreign influence wing of the Chinese government, the United Front.
Interactions between wealthy business leaders with direct ties to China have come under heavier scrutiny in recent years, as a series of scandals have erupted over alleged Chinese influence agents gaining access to elected officials from small town mayors to members of Congress and the governor of New York. Those relationships have often been facilitated with political donations.
Jacqueline Deal, a board member of State Armor, a company that helps lawmakers detect foreign influence operations, told CBS News that the Chinese government has a “broad-reaching, coordinated strategy for dominance that relies on shaping U.S. policy so that over time we get weaker and [China] gets stronger.”
She said she suspects political donations are being used to help “disincentivize these leaders from noticing Chinese Communist Party political interference.” There is no evidence the Yins have been co-opted in this way.
C.C. Yin told CBS News: “I love America, and I strongly condemn any effort by any foreign government to interfere in American politics or undermine our democracy.” Henry Yin did not respond to requests for comment.
Yin family donated millions to political causes
C.C. Yin, 89, is known in Northern California for his philanthropy and rags-to-riches story of a Chinese immigrant arriving to the U.S. in the 1960s with just $100 and building a successful franchise business.
He and his brother Henry Yin founded and ran an organization called Asian Pacific American Public Affairs, or APAPA, organizing support for favored political candidates and helping place interns and advisers in the offices of local, state and federal officials, according to APAPA’s website.
C.C. Yin told CBS News he started APAPA to help “young people and community members develop leadership skills, understand how government works, vote, serve their communities, and participate in our democracy.”
“When this country gives us opportunity, we have a responsibility to give back,” he said.
Some of the Yins’ giving has come in the form of large political donations.
The family has donated nearly $3 million to state-level California political causes and an additional $1,455,027 to federal campaigns, directly and through C.C. Yin’s McDonald’s franchise business, according to state and Federal Election Commission records.
This includes $364,817 in donations to past campaigns supporting Gavin Newsom, $80,000 to his 2019 inauguration committee and $50,000 to a nonprofit at Newsom’s direction.
The Yins as individuals and C.C. Yin’s McDonald’s franchise also gave California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis’ campaigns $221,700 between 2018 and 2025, state records show. Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaigns received $214,300 between 2019 and 2024, and former state Treasurer John Chiang’s campaigns received $115,680.
Links to suspected spy Fang Fang
FBI files declassified by the White House in August point to a previous close working relationship between C.C. Yin and suspected Chinese spy Fang “Christine” Fang, who had a sexual relationship with disgraced former California congressman Eric Swalwell before fleeing to China in 2015.
Suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang, also known as Christine Fang, in 2013. Via Facebook
The files include Swalwell’s interviews with the FBI in 2015 and 2016, in which he identified Fang as his “point of contact” for APAPA. In one interview Swalwell said a top APAPA official directed him to Fang, according to the files. That official’s name is redacted in the report, but two sources familiar with its content told CBS News it is C.C. Yin.
Fang appeared alongside C.C. Yin and Henry Yin at a 15-person APAPA event, in a photo posted on Facebook in 2013 by a City of Cupertino official.
APAPA president Kris Concepcion told CBS News that “current leadership is not aware of Fang Fang ever holding an official role with the national organization.”
“Our understanding is that she was associated with a local chapter that is no longer operational,” he said. “Like hundreds, or even thousands, of other community members who attend public events, being photographed with APAPA members does not mean she was an officer, board member, employee or representative of APAPA.”
No evidence has emerged that Henry Yin or C.C. Yin knew about Fang’s alleged espionage during her involvement in APAPA.
Chinese government meetings
After noticing APAPA’s connection with Fang Fang, Deal dug into the background of Henry Yin, who previously served as national board chair of APAPA and is currently a board member.
She found a string of Chinese media reports of his attendance at 10 events in China hosted by officials from the Chinese government and its foreign influence wing, the United Front, since 2013. The United Front published Chinese-language write-ups of Henry Yin’s reported meetings in 2015 and 2023.
Henry Yin has described his efforts as “networking.” Deal said his relationship with China “seems to be one of open cooperation.”
One article said Yin traveled to Baoshan in Yunnan province in June 2015 and held talks with the Municipal Party Committee United Front Work Department, reaching “a consensus on further strengthening contacts.” It described Yin as their “designated contact person for California–China economic, trade, scientific and technological interaction”.
Another 2013 article by a Chinese government office described a meeting between Yin and a Chinese government official in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, saying that he had been offered a position there with the title “Overseas Talent Recruitment Adviser for Sichuan Province.” There is no evidence Yin accepted that offer, which was made during a friendlier time in U.S.-China relations.
A United Front statement from 2023 said a delegation of “Chinese Entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley” including Henry Yin, visited his hometown of Chengdu and “built a new bridge for investment cooperation between Chengdu and Silicon Valley.”
Henry Yin told the East Bay Times in 2016, while he was serving on the California Commission for Economic Development, that his goal was to further business relations between China and the U.S., as part of his decades as a trans-national entrepreneur.
“I’ve done a lot of networking, and these days I’m glad to see these networks deliver results,” he told the newspaper.
Neither Henry Yin nor his brother have been accused by U.S. law enforcement of working as a foreign agent or acting against American interests.
Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow and University of Miami professor June Teufel Dreyer told CBS News that, although political donations and advisory roles are patterns of influence used by the United Front, those actions and traveling to China for diplomacy and business trips could be entirely innocent.
“There’s really nothing wrong with successful Chinese entrepreneurs wanting to help out the economies of the country they originally came from,” Dreyer said, but added: “We should get rid of the idea that there’s such a thing as a truly private business in China. They are all controlled at some level by the government.”
Cheryl Yu, a fellow at foreign affairs think tank The Jamestown Foundation, told CBS News that the Chinese government attempts to exert influence on well-connected Americans, regardless of those individuals’ intentions.
“This is how the United Front works. They build these friendly, long-term relationships, then at some point they make requests,” she said.
The U.S. government has allegedly engaged in its own influence attempts against China, including a clandestine social media campaign to turn public opinion in China against President Xi Jinping’s government, a 2024 Reuters report claimed.
Concepcion said his organization has “no relationship with the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party, or the United Front,” and that “personal travel, relationships, employment histories, and views” of members “should not be attributed to APAPA.”
Top political contacts
The Yins’ foreign and domestic connections have at times placed them at the nexus of Chinese diplomacy and American politics.
C.C. Yin was credited with helping arrange Newsom’s 2023 trip to China according to a story co-authored by his organization in New York-based Taiwanese newspaper the World Journal.
The newspaper article said that C.C. Yin began negotiating the visit “after being entrusted by the governor’s office” to “formally convey Governor Newsom’s desire to visit China to Consul General Zhang Jianmin.”
His brother Henry Yin accompanied the governor as an adviser on the October 2023 visit, where Newsom met Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Journal reported.
Henry Yin has also been photographed with Newsom at APAPA events, which he shared on Facebook.
Henry Yin and California Gov. Gavin Newsom at fundraising dinner for Newsom, Yin Ranch, September 2019 Via Facebook
Newsom’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. The governor is among those expected to seek the 2028 Democratic nomination for president.
Henry Yin also acted as an adviser to California congressman Ro Khanna, who is similarly talked about as a potential Democratic 2028 presidential candidate and is currently the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the CCP, established with the purpose of monitoring Chinese government influence in U.S. politics. Henry Yin and C.C. Yin have personally donated $15,800 to Khanna’s congressional campaigns since 2017.
Rep. Ro Khanna (L), unidentified man (center), Henry Yin, (R), in undated 2020 photo. Via Facebook
Khanna’s spokesperson has since given statements about Henry Yin’s relationship with the influential lawmaker that conflict with Khanna’s own social media posts.
A 2019 Facebook post by Khanna included a photo of Henry Yin presenting the congressman with a birthday cake, with the caption announcing that “Henry will serve as my Senior Advisor on Foreign Trade and Economic Development.” In a 2020 post he referred to Henry Yin as a “good friend.”
Until this month, Yin listed on his LinkedIn page a current role as “Sr. Advisor to US House of Rep [Ro] Khanna,” beginning in 2019. The page has since been deleted.
Khanna appeared alongside Henry in February this year at a Sunnyvale, California event run by APAPA-affiliated PAC, Asian Americans for Good Government. Both Henry Yin and C.C. Yin have been listed as board members of the PAC, according to archives of its website.
Earlier this month, his spokesperson told the New York Post that Henry Yin “has never held a formal role with the Congressman.” In a subsequent statement to CBS News, Khanna’s communications director Sarah Drory said that Henry Yin “served for a year as one of dozens of volunteer leaders.”
Drory added in the statement that “APAPA has been a decades-long organization to empower Asian Americans and it’s an ugly anti-Asian smear to suggest ties” to the Chinese government.