House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) has called on Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker to cancel an upcoming ceremony that would raise the flag of Communist China at City Hall. In a letter sent this week, Moolenaar urged the city to reconsider the event and cancel the flag-raising, given Philadelphia’s symbolic significance in the birthplace of American independence.
“The city where America declared independence and that all people have the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, should not raise the flag of an authoritarian regime represented by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], which denies those freedoms to its own people. Raising the flag of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] over Philadelphia is a disgrace to our nation’s founding values and flies in the face of all the courageous dissidents and human rights advocates who tirelessly work to bring freedom to the Chinese people,” Chairman Moolenaar wrote.
The PRC flag consists of a large yellow star surrounded by four smaller stars on a crimson red background. The large star symbolizes the leadership of the Communist Party; the four smaller ones the various socio-economic classes of China, and the red represents the blood of those spilled for the communist causes.
In his letter, Moolenaar noted that the PRC flag symbolizes a regime responsible for extensive political and religious persecution, and that the CCP’s ideology and governance are diametrically opposed to American values; meanwhile, Beijing is also complicit in enabling the fentanyl crisis that kills thousands of Americans on a yearly basis.
Moolenaar also warned about the influence of the CCP’s United Front organizations, which U.S. security officials and analysts have linked to Beijing’s overseas intelligence and political operations. He urged Philadelphia’s leaders to be more cautious in their dealings with groups that are connected with or have possible connections to Communist China.
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He also urged Parker to end the city’s sister-city relationship with Tianjin.
Moolenaar noted that while Chinese “hometown” associations in the U.S. were originally formed to help immigrants connect with their provinces of origin, many of these groups have increasingly been co-opted by the CCP’s United Front system. He pointed to a broader pattern in which civic organizations across U.S. cities are being leveraged to advance Beijing’s interests.
He added, “Raising the national flag of a foreign adversary country sends the wrong message to our citizens and lawful residents, especially those oppressed by the CCP regime. The city government of Philadelphia should not allow itself to be exploited as a tool for CCP propaganda. To cancel the PRC flag-raising ceremony will not only demonstrate that the local government in the United States stands for U.S. values and national interests, but that it stands in support for the people of China who face the regime’s ruthless oppression and transnational repression.”
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Pennsylvania Chinese United Coalition
The Pennsylvania Chinese United Coalition (PCUC), which is heavily influenced by the CPP, held a meeting at a hotpot restaurant in Philadelphia on Sept. 7 to discuss preparations for the flag raising ceremony on Sept. 30th, as part of a celebration of the 76-year-anniversary of the CCP taking power in China.
Surprisingly, this event will be co-hosted with the Philadelphia city government.
This meeting was hosted by the coalition’s executive secretary general, Zhang Zi’ai, at the request of the coalition’s acting president, Chen Zhanyuan. Some twenty-eight co-chairs and core members of the coalition attended.
The PCUC was founded in 2017. The current president, Chen, and secretary general, Zhang Zi’ai, took office in February 2024. Their inauguration was witnessed and authenticated by officials from the Chinese Consulate General in New York and former leaders of the organization. The PCUC has close ties with the consulate.
Based on Chinese media reports, at the meeting, Zhang Zi’ai shared his experience representing the coalition in Beijing at the Sept. 3rd military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in World War II.
The PRC, which seized power over China in 1949, or four years after the conclusion of World War II, has gone to great lengths to embellish the relatively minor role that the Communist Party — then a rebel movement fighting against the Republic of China (ROC) — played in actually resisting the Japanese invasion.
Zhang said he was deeply moved and proud to see China’s strength and its role in maintaining world peace, echoing rhetoric from a speech delievered at the event by CCP leader Xi Jinping.
“As overseas Chinese, we are proud of our country’s growing strength. China will always be our strongest support,” Zhang added.
He also mentioned that after the parade, he returned to his hometown of Houyu in southeast China’s Fujian Province, and saw how the city was growing along with the rest of the country. To prepare for the flag-raising ceremony, he rushed back to Philadelphia and got busy with the preparations. The reports indicate that his story received lots of applause and inspired patriotic feelings towards the PRC among those at the meeting.
It has been further reported that organiners of the PRC flag-raising event will invite officials from Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, representatives from the Philadelphia Police Department, as well as Chinese students from Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Jefferson University, and Drexel University.
