The Tea on the Trip
CodePink is currently hosting a 12-day "revolutionary history" tour across China, and it’s lowkey sparking some major questions. The group, which is a nonprofit based in California, is charging participants between $3,000 and $4,000 for a trip that includes visits to Shanghai, Chongqing, and Zunyi. Promotional material promises attendees will "marvel" at modern socialist development and high-tech infrastructure.
Co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans are leading the tour, which they say is an opportunity to see a side of the country that differs from the narrative back in Washington. In recent social media clips, Benjamin has praised the country’s safety, even noting how people can leave bikes or umbrellas unattended without fear of theft.
Why Everyone is Watching
This isn't just a regular vacation. The group has been under intense pressure due to its financial connections to Neville Roy Singham, a 72-year-old American tech entrepreneur who moved to Shanghai. Fox News Digital reported that Singham has funneled roughly $278 million into a network of nonprofits, including CodePink, since 2017.
Things might get messy because the Justice Department's U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is currently running a grand jury investigation into Singham and his network. The probe is looking into potential money laundering, bank fraud, and wire fraud.
The Fallout
Both CodePink and Singham have denied that they take orders from the Chinese government. Benjamin maintains that the organization does not receive money from the Chinese Communist Party, and Singham has stated he is simply following his own political beliefs. So far, no criminal charges have been filed against anyone involved in the investigation. Still, the optics are highkey complicated, especially with Congress currently probing foreign influence networks tied to countries like China, Iran, and Cuba.
Why it matters
As a grand jury investigates the money behind these activist groups, this trip brings CodePink’s international ties into the spotlight. It means for you that as lawmakers ramp up their focus on foreign influence, we’re likely to see more transparency requirements for nonprofits and major legal developments regarding who is funding political movements in the U.S. No cap, this could change how organizations operate in the future.
