Massachusetts Governor Carries the Torch for Business with the Chinese Communist Party

On May 9, 2025, The National Pulse published a hit piece on Massachusetts Democrat Governor Maura Healey meeting with a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official. She posted on X (formerly Twitter) social media photos of herself and the CCP diplomat Chen Li.

“Healey noted the state’s significant trading partnership with China, its third-largest trading partner, with over $7.2 billion in trade in 2024. She said the state’s imports from China include toys, apparel, and sports equipment [made by slave laborers] while Massachusetts exports industrial machinery and medical devices to China.” ¹

How Long Has Massachusetts Been Involved with the Chinese Communist Party?

According to the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) website in New York, it all started in 1982 when the Sister Cities partnership was created. Michael Dukakis was the Governor of Massachusetts at that time.

“The State of Massachusetts and Guangdong Province established sister province/state relations in 1983. Boston and Hangzhou city of Zhejiang (1982), Brockton and Zaozhuang city of Shandong (2000), Atepolo and Yangzhou Baoying County of Jiangsu (2007), Cambridge and Beijing Haidian District (2016) are sister cities. Shelburne Falls and Mutianyu, Huairou District of Beijing, are friendship villages. Since 2022 May 1 has been officially designated by Boston as “Boston-Hangzhou Day”.²

A search online for “former Massachusetts governors who worked closely with China” revealed that many former Governors worked with China.³⁴

So, what is the difference between the RPC and the CCP? Apparently, nothing.

CCP: A political party with a monopoly on power in China. It is responsible for setting the political direction and policies of the country.
PRC: The state entity that the CCP governs. It includes the government, military, and other state institutions.

Business as Usual

In May 2018, the state of Massachusetts and the province of Guangdong held an event in Boston to celebrate their sister-city relationship. “We are pleased in Massachusetts to have your companies like the China Railroad Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC) building our train cars at this moment,” declared Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito.⁵

In December 2019, a defense policy bill was headed to the White House that would bar the use of federal funds to purchase buses and rail cars from Chinese companies over concerns about security issues and spying. The restriction would go into effect in two years.⁶

In June 2020, the Department of Defense identified CRRC Corporation Limited as a Chinese Communist military company, by requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999.⁵

In May 2025, six years later, ProgressiveRailroading.com reports that there is a bill introducing the Safeguarding Transit Operations to Prohibit China Act (STOP) to prevent the U.S. government from buying Chinese buses and rail cars. Congress already passed the Transportation Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act, which prohibits companies with ties to China’s government from receiving taxpayer-funded contracts from the Federal Transit Administration to build U.S. rail cars and buses. However, China has taken advantage of other government funds in the law to continue competing for transit business in the United States.

Chinese espionage is “the most serious national security issue that no one talks about.” Here in Boston, we are fast becoming ground zero for that threat.

The Department of Justice launched its China Initiative in late 2018. Its mission? To counter the widespread theft of technologies and intellectual property that the government believes powers China’s quest to surpass the United States as the world’s leader in science and technology. If you ask Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, he’ll tell you that Chinese espionage is “the most serious national security issue that no one talks about.”

Here in Boston, we are fast becoming ground zero for that threat. Experts say the city’s countless universities, hospitals, biotech startups, and defense contractors have given us the dubious distinction of being one of the nation’s prime economic and military espionage targets. As a result, Lelling—along with four other U.S. attorneys in districts that, like Boston, are potential hotbeds of Chinese espionage—was chosen to lead the charge.⁸

Infiltration of Our Education System

According to an article published in the Commonwealth Beacon on January 16, 2019, the University of Massachusetts Boston severed its ties with the Confucius Institute, an on-campus academic center funded by the Chinese government that stirred controversy on campus and among some Massachusetts politicians. Twelve other academic institutions around the U.S. also severed ties with Confucius Institutes.

In 2021, Tufts University in Medford, MA, ended its relationship with the Confucius Institute.⁹

In July 2023, Parents Defending Education released an investigation into Chinese government ties to American K-12 schools. Members sent a letter to Governor Healy requesting action.

“PDE Action hopes you will take this opportunity to audit Massachusetts schools’ ties to the Chinese government, which is inseparable from the Chinese Communist Party. American students should not be subjected to Chinese Communist Party propaganda under the guise of Chinese language and culture programming. Thank you for your prompt attention to this request, and please do not hesitate to contact me for further information.”

The search is still on for the Governor’s response to the Parents Defending Education letter.

by Citizens for Truth Contributor

Sources

Massachusetts First