Recently, the American family of a Chinese adoptee contacted me because of a suspicious interaction they had with a DNA research service. The adoptee—called Janet for anonymity—submitted her DNA to an ancestry website to uncover her history. The results, unsurprisingly, confirmed more than 90 percent Chinese DNA. However, what proved unusual was that shortly afterward, she received an email from a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) claiming to have located her birth mother. The email came from research-china.org, a paid service, and its affiliate DNAconnect.org, which in addition to charging $299, solicits donations.
There are several red flags in this situation. First, NGOs, particularly foreign ones, are so strictly regulated in China that most cannot get approval to operate. Chinese NGO law states, “The public security department under the State Council and the public security organs of provincial-level people’s governments are the registration management organs for foreign NGOs carrying out activities within mainland China.” This places the management of properly registered foreign NGOs under the public security department. The law also states that foreign NGOs must register and must not carry out covert operations in China.
Next, DNA is regarded as highly sensitive in China, making it unlikely that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would permit a foreign NGO to collect Chinese citizens’ DNA. Article 11 of “Implementation Rules for the Regulations on the Management of Human Genetic Resources” states, “Foreign organizations and institutions established or actually controlled by foreign organizations or individuals (hereinafter Foreign Units), as well as foreign individuals, must not collect or preserve human genetic resources within our nation’s mainland territory, and must not provide our nation’s human genetic resources abroad.”
Despite the Article 11 prohibition on removing Chinese citizen DNA from China, it appears that the website of DNA Connect is asking American families to help collect DNA samples. “We are missing opportunities to collect DNA in China. Currently, thousands of families are traveling back to China on heritage tours and birth parent searches. During these visits, adoptive families sometimes meet birth parents, but they are usually birth parents of a child they don’t know. These are tremendous but short-lived opportunities to collect DNA samples, as well as gathering accompanying information for future matches.”
The CCP’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) is actively engaged in influence operations within the United States. The UFWD seeks to co-opt ethnic Chinese individuals and communities living outside China. It operates through various civic and educational institutions, including Chinese Students and Scholars Associations, cultural and “friendship” associations, and Confucius Institutes. By providing scholarships to foreign military, police, or research students, the CCP plants seeds of influence in individuals who may eventually hold decision-making positions. The CCP also funds friendship tours and is now offering “birthright tours” to the diaspora, including adoptees. The 81,600 children adopted from China by American families between 1999 and 2018 provide a new avenue for the CCP to connect with U.S. citizens.
Whether this is actually an initiative of the UFWD or a well-meaning but somehow very suspicious program remains to be seen. However, the CCP is very much focused on collecting as much DNA as possible and is developing highly sophisticated artificial intelligence to profile and target Americans. Furthermore, the National Intelligence Law of China requires all companies to hand over data to Chinese authorities when requested to do so. Consequently, whether wittingly or unwittingly, this program is open to CCP exploitation.
I emailed Brian Stuy, founder of Research-China.Org. Initially, he agreed to an interview; however, after seeing the list of questions regarding his possible affiliation with the CCP and how he is able to operate in China, he rejected the interview and refused to answer any questions. He responded, “In looking over your questions, we have decided that we prefer to remain under the radar and not have the media attention you would be able to provide.” His claim to want to remain “under the radar” seems a bit curious, given that he has a website and has given interviews to other media. The CCP monitors U.S. media and knows about U.S. companies or organizations operating inside of China.
I tried several times to get Mr. Stuy to answer questions. He refused but did agree to correct any perceived errors in a preview of this article. He then responded by saying that he had decided not to correct any perceived errors. “Refuting one of your assertions will imply that any unchallenged ones are true,” he said.
