Chinese Communist Party Insider Poses With New York’s Top Democrats — Raising Red Flags Over CCP Influence

A Chinese educator with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party is making friends in all the right places — including the offices of Mayor Eric Adams and Senator Chuck Schumer.

Linda Wang, also known as Wang Zaozao, isn’t your ordinary teacher. She’s a former Chinese pageant queen, interpreter, and the founder of New York’s Zao Learning Center. But behind the scenes, Wang has been a visible fixture alongside prominent Democrats at parades, fundraisers, and photo ops. Her extensive links to China’s communist regime are raising serious concerns about who really has influence in America’s biggest city.

A Pattern of Cozying Up

Wang’s social media is a virtual scrapbook of Democratic power players. Over the past five years, she’s posted selfies with Mayor Adams, Senate Minority Leader Schumer, and even CCP diplomats — sometimes all in one frame.

“So happy to reconnect with familiar faces,” Wang captioned a recent photo with Adams and Chinese Consul General Chen Li at Manhattan’s AAPI Heritage Month parade. Another post features Wang smiling with Schumer at a Brooklyn Lantern Festival, where she also served as Schumer’s translator. “Honored to be the host. Eric Adams is our old friend who listens to us and helps us,” she wrote last summer, after holding a certificate signed by the mayor himself.

The photos show more than just fleeting encounters. Wang has hosted campaign fundraisers for Adams and has shared the stage with Congressman Josh Gottheimer and other New Jersey officials at Chinese alumni events. As recently as this month, she boasted about emceeing cultural festivals with politicians, including Schumer, in attendance.

CCP Connections Run Deep

Wang doesn’t hide her resume: Her website lists multiple credentials issued by China’s Ministry of Education — an arm of the CCP responsible for pushing “socialist core values” in Chinese schools at home and abroad. According to national security experts, the same ministry that handed Wang her teaching certificate also works to embed communist ideology in international education.

But her ties go even deeper. Wang is a consultant for the Association for the Promotion of China’s Peaceful Reunification in New York, an organization repeatedly cited by U.S. think tanks as part of Beijing’s long-term “united front” campaign to influence foreign communities and governments. Chinese President Xi Jinping has openly called these groups a “magic weapon” for expanding CCP influence.

“She is deeply involved with organizations in New York City that have strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s united front system,” warned Arran Hope, editor at the Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief, in comments to Fox News Digital.

Wang’s activities include serving as secretary general of the United Chinese Association of America’s New York branch and acting as a guest reporter for the CCP’s Fujian Daily. During the pandemic, she was reportedly helping the CCP coordinate aid to Wuhan, according to official Chinese government websites.

Politicians Distance Themselves — But The Photos Don’t Lie

Caught in the crossfire, Democratic leaders are quick to deny any close relationship. “Thousands of community members take photographs with the Mayor at public events,” said an Adams spokesperson, who insisted the administration does not work with Wang.

A spokesperson for Rep. Gottheimer emphasized he has “no relationship” with Wang and is actively working to crack down on the CCP. Senator Schumer’s office and Wang herself declined to comment.

But Wang’s photo trail tells a different story — showing her at VIP fundraisers, city hall events, and sharing hugs and smiles with the city’s most powerful figures.

A Broader Pattern of Influence

The alarm isn’t isolated to one educator. Fox News Digital has uncovered multiple instances where former aides to Governor Kathy Hochul and other New York officials have maintained suspicious connections to CCP-backed organizations. In one recent scandal, a Hochul aide’s family was linked to the Chinese Propaganda Department.

The issue is bigger than just photo ops. National security experts warn that the CCP is systematically working to “undermine democratic norms and open debate” in America by embedding allies in influential positions — often under the guise of cultural or educational exchange.

What’s Really Going On in New York?

While Democratic leaders claim these are nothing more than innocent community engagements, the facts suggest otherwise. “Front organizations such as the CPPRC represent one of the primary mechanisms employed by the CCP in its patient, long-term campaign to undermine the democratic norms and open debate… internationally,” said a 2019 report from the Jamestown Foundation.

And Wang herself seems to know exactly who holds the power in New York. “New Mayor of NYC! You are our old friend,” she wrote, moments after Adams’ inauguration.

As the CCP expands its reach through local organizations, New York’s top Democrats find themselves in the spotlight — and under scrutiny — for the company they keep.