FIRST ON FOX: Hunter Biden informed his business associates in late 2013 that a top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader allegedly asked him to travel to China to talk about future "business opportunities," according to an email obtained and verified by Fox News Digital.
In December 2013, Biden accompanied his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on a six-day trip around Asia that included China, South Korea and Japan. While in Beijing, Biden introduced his father to one of his Chinese business associates, who was accompanied by another associate, in the lobby of the hotel they were staying in.
During the China leg of the trip, Biden attended multiple events with his dad, including a lunch that featured some of the most powerful CCP leaders in China. On Dec. 5, Jonathan Li, the business associate who Vice President Biden was introduced to, emailed Biden asking him how his China trip was going, prompting Biden to email later that day that everything "went very well."
"Do you know former Governor of Hong Kong- C.H. Troung (sp?)," Hunter asked. "He wants me to come to HK to visit to discuss business opportunities. He sat next to Dad at lunch w/ Premiere and implied we knew each other- but I don't remember him."
"Very good, I can go with you to find out what he can do for us," Li said to Hunter.
"Troung" refers to C.H. Tung, a former governor of Hong Kong and billionaire who served as the vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) between 2005 and 2023, a former business associate of Biden confirmed to Fox News Digital. The CPPCC is the "key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation" under the leadership of the CCP, according to the CPPCC website.
Fox News Digital could not confirm whether Biden took Tung up on his alleged offer to visit Hong Kong to discuss "business opportunities."
Biden’s email about Tung would not be the last time that his name was mentioned in his emails. In July 2014, James Bulger, who goes by "Jimmy," and served as the chairman of Boston-based Thornton Group LLC — a firm that joined forces with Hunter’s now-defunct Rosemont Seneca to launch its joint-venture with Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital to create BHR Partners— emailed Biden about introducing their Chinese business associates to Tung.
In the July 2014 email, Bulger asked Biden to introduce Li and Andy Lu, who was a BHR committee member, to "Mr. Tung" to discuss "BHR investment targets" and "fundraising," alleging Biden sat next to Tung at a 2013 dinner welcoming Vice President Biden to Beijing, according to previous Fox News Digital reporting.
"It is my understanding that during the trip to Beijing that you made with your father, President Xi hosted a welcome dinner," Bulger wrote. "[A]t that dinner, you were seated right next to Mr Tung, therefore J and Andy believe it would be very helpful if you could please send a brief email to Mr Tung laying out that you are a partner and Board Member of BHR and that You would be grateful to Mr Tung if he could meet your local partners to discuss the Fund."
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"Please let me know if you can introduce these two to Mr Tung by email it is very important to our BHR intiative [sic] at this moment," Bulger stressed.
Biden responded that he was "happy" to fulfill the request but said he could not recall the names of the gentlemen who sat next to him at the dinner.
"Happy to do this," he wrote, "but I have no email address for Mr. Tung and he very well may have sat next to me but I don't recall the two gentlemen's names to my left and right. Regardless, I would suggest the team draft an email in Mandarin and English for my approval ASAP."
"Let me reach out to Lin and J will revert ASAP," Bulger replied later that day.
Multiple inquiries from Fox News Digital to Biden’s lawyer, Bulger, Li, Lu and Tung previously went unreturned about whether Biden ended up introducing Tung to his associates.
In addition to the 2013 dinner in Beijing, Tung was on the "expected attendees" guest list for at least two state dinners at the White House during the Obama-Biden administration. Tung's bio on the Obama administration archives website for the January 2011 dinner says he was "Vice Chairman, CPPCC, former Hong Kong Chief Executive."
In another press release for the September 2015 state dinner, Tung's bio lists him as "Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference."
According to a 2018 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. government agency, the CPPCC is a "central part" of China’s United Front system, which works to "co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."
According to a 2021 report by The Diplomat, the CPPCC is "designed to liaise with non-Communist Party members – and ultimately see them work with the CCP to advance its interests." While serving as vice chairman of the CPPCC, Tung also founded the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) in 2008.
Tung has many powerful contacts in Washington, D.C., including President Biden’s top climate diplomat, John Podesta. Fox News Digital previously reported that Podesta referred to Tung as his "friend" and took several phone calls from him between 2015 and 2016 while serving as the chairman for Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign.
In May 2013, Tung and Podesta spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which included Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai.
"For the last four years though, Center for American Progress and China-U.S. Exchange Foundation have co-hosted a US.-China track II dialogue and we continue to host these dialogues on an annual basis," Podesta said. "I have the highest regard for C.H. Tung's tireless efforts to bring our two nations closer together. He is always looking ahead to anticipate emerging challenges in the U.S.-China relations and to figure out what he can do to make those challenges more manageable."
Fox News Digital also previously reported on Tung being instrumental in CUSEF’s targeting of Historically Black Colleges and Universities by visiting the office of a Black public relations consultant’s office across the street from the White House in 2009 to learn more about Black Americans.
"In 2009, the former chief executive of Hong Kong visited me in my office with his staff from the China-United States Exchange Foundation, and they wanted to know how we got a Black president," Julia Wilson told the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff students during a 2017 presentation. "They were saying, 'We don't know anything about Black people. So can you write us a white paper and share it with us. How did Black people get enough power to vote a Black man into office?' So they really needed an overview of our history. Who are we? Who are African Americans?"
Tung’s organization would go on to pay out over $1M to Wilson’s firm, Wilson Global Communications, between 2017 and December 2023.
Biden's attorney, Li, and the White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
