The Chinese Consulate in New York played a role in raising the Chinese regime’s flag over Philadelphia City Hall, according to government records recently obtained by The Epoch Times.

The ceremony, which took place on Sept. 30, 2025, was organized by the Pennsylvania United Chinese Coalition as part of a Philadelphia program that celebrates local residents’ heritage and cultural diversity through official flag-raising events. At the time, the ceremony was meant to commemorate the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) National Day.

The ceremony drew protests and criticism from human rights activists and legislators, who argued that it was inappropriate to hold a ceremony celebrating the CCP, given its record of human rights violations and religious persecution, particularly in Philadelphia, the birthplace of American independence.

Documents that The Epoch Times obtained through a Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law request shed light on the involvement of the Chinese Consulate General in New York.

One of the documents—an event application to Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs—includes a question asking the applicant whether the proposed event will be “coordinating with an Embassy, Consulate, or City Council member.”

Wang Yuming, also known as Michael Wang, the coalition’s honorary chairman, completed the application and answered the question by checking “Yes, I will be coordinating with” and writing “the Chinese consulate general in NYC.”

The Pennsylvania United Chinese Coalition states on its website that it was founded in 2017 and that its mission includes “enhancing cultural exchange between China and the United States.”

The House Select Committee on the CCP said the coordination between the organizer and Chinese Consulate officials underscored concerns it has repeatedly raised about the CCP’s influence in the United States.

“This is not just about symbolism. It’s about how Beijing uses access, partnerships, and community organizations to expand its influence inside the United States,” the committee wrote in a post on X in April.

“American cities must remain vigilant against foreign influence operations masquerading as cultural exchange.”

A February report from the Jamestown Foundation found more than 2,000 organizations linked to the Chinese United Front system across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

These networks can assist the regime with intelligence gathering, shaping other countries’ political environments, and technology transfer to China, researchers and analysts have said.

Concerns, Criticism

Before the ceremony, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, wrote a letter to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker urging her to cancel the event, saying that the city government “should not allow itself to be exploited as a tool for CCP propaganda.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking member, similarly voiced opposition to the event.

“The only flag that should be going up there is the American flag,” Khanna told Fox News at the time.

“The Communist Party, as you know, did so much harm. The Great Leap Forward led to famine. The Cultural Revolution led to huge violations of human rights.”

Local residents and human rights advocates also urged that the event not go ahead.

In an email dated Sept. 25, 2025, to city legislators and the Office of Immigrant Affairs, which The Epoch Times obtained, a Philadelphia-based Chinese dissident cited China’s treatment of Uyghurs, the suppression of pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong, and systematic discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities in China.

Having fled China following the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, the dissident said the CCP flag was “not a cultural emblem” but rather “a painful and personal symbol of trauma, fear, and systemic oppression.”

“The Pennsylvania United Chinese Coalition has every right to free speech, but the City should not lend symbolic legitimacy to a regime that violates human rights, destroys lives, and rejects the very principle of equality,” the email said.

Various officers for the city circulated the letter from Moolenaar and the dissident’s objection email, the documents show.

Following the flag raising, various state and congressional lawmakers expressed alarm, with one of them describing it as “shameful.”

In his letter, Moolenaar also expressed skepticism about the Pennsylvania United Chinese Coalition’s self-described role as a “community organization representing the interests of local diaspora groups,” noting its frequent engagement with the Chinese Consulate in New York City and its hosting of meetings with United Front groups.

Victoria Coates, vice president of The Heritage Foundation’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, has also raised concerns about the coalition.

In a commentary published in October 2025, Coates described the coalition as part of a network of organizations seeking to “boost the CCP’s reputation and reach within the U.S. under the guise of cultural exchange.”

The Chinese Consulate is known to have organized demonstrations supporting Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s U.S. visits, as well as counterprotests against former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the United States.