Bound to the Red Dragon

ACTIVE INVESTIGATION — EXCHANGE RECORDS PENDING

A permanent political exchange, a Communist Party influence organization, a warning delivered in Madison—and the Wisconsin leaders who stayed connected.

Featured question

What influence did China gain through a political-access channel Wisconsin leaders continued using after Washington warned them to stop?

Bound to the Red Dragon examines more than a decade of formal exchanges between influential Wisconsin political leaders and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC)—an organization later identified by the U.S. State Department as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s influence apparatus.

The investigation is built from primary records: Wisconsin legislation and journals, State Department statements, a federal counterintelligence report, CPAFFC’s published accounts, and materials from the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF). The central concern is not that Wisconsin officials have been proven to have committed a crime or accepted Chinese government money. The issue is that a documented channel of political access continued after federal officials publicly warned state leaders about the organization involved.

The exchange channel

In December 2015, SLLF—a Massachusetts nonprofit serving state legislative leaders—signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with CPAFFC. SLLF described it as a “new and permanent partnership,” endorsed during Xi Jinping’s 2015 U.S. visit, leading to the China-U.S. Sub-National Legislatures Cooperation Forum (2016 onward, including Wuhan, Las Vegas, and other cities).

The arrangement gave Chinese officials and affiliated organizations direct access to American state legislative leaders outside the traditional federal diplomatic structure.

Washington’s warning

On September 23, 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the Wisconsin State Senate in Madison in a speech titled “State Legislatures and the China Challenge,” identifying CPAFFC under the CCP’s United Front Work Department.

On October 28, 2020, the State Department terminated American participation in a related U.S.-China Governors Forum MOU, stating CPAFFC had sought to “directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda.”

In July 2022, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center again identified CPAFFC in a report on Chinese influence operations targeting state and local government. The warning was public, delivered in Madison, and directed at Wisconsin lawmakers.

Wisconsin leadership remained connected

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is identified as a longtime SLLF board member, including an extended period as vice chair. Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August attended the forum in Wuhan. According to the source summary, Vos remained listed as an SLLF director on its 2026 board—years after the State Department publicly identified CPAFFC as a CCP influence organization.

In August 2024, SLLF President Stephen Lakis reportedly said the CPAFFC relationship had ended several years earlier—but the original “permanent partnership” webpage was subsequently removed. Open questions include when the relationship actually ended, who authorized termination, whether Wisconsin participants were notified, and what records document the end of the relationship.

The farmland question

Wisconsin’s ~138-year-old law generally caps foreign ownership of agricultural land at 640 acres. In February 2013, Governor Scott Walker attempted to repeal the restriction through the budget; Joint Finance removed it. In April 2013, Walker opened a Wisconsin trade office in Shanghai and met Xi Jinping. In January 2014, the Assembly Committee on Organization (chaired by Vos) voted to seek an attorney general opinion on whether trade treaties override the statute.

These events do not establish that Chinese officials directed Wisconsin land policy. They do show foreign land restrictions, Chinese trade relationships, and treaty concerns were discussed during the same period Wisconsin officials expanded political and economic ties with China.

Legislative efforts on foreign-adversary land

• 2023: Assembly Bill 269 proposed prohibiting federally designated foreign adversaries from acquiring Wisconsin agricultural and forest land; it died April 15, 2024 without a floor vote.
• 2026: Senate Bill 7 passed both houses in January; Governor Tony Evers vetoed it March 20; the override failed May 13.
• As of August 2026, Wisconsin still had no specific foreign-adversary land prohibition.

Why Vos’s departure does not close the file

Vos announced February 19, 2026 that he would not seek reelection; his term is expected to end January 2027. The exchange structure existed before the federal warning, survived it, outlasted the terminated Governors Forum agreement, and may continue after Vos leaves. Wisconsin’s next Assembly Speaker may inherit the same relationships and unresolved questions.

Key findings

• A formal SLLF–CPAFFC partnership existed (2015 MOU).
• Wisconsin legislative leaders participated in SLLF roles and forums.
• The State Department publicly identified CPAFFC as connected to the CCP United Front system.
• Pompeo delivered that warning directly to the Wisconsin Senate in Madison.
• Federal participation in a related governors forum was terminated.
• NCSC repeated the CPAFFC warning in 2022.
• Vos remained listed on SLLF’s board in 2026.
• Wisconsin’s foreign-adversary land policy remains unsettled.

What the investigation does not establish

The available records do not establish that a Wisconsin official accepted Chinese government money, acted under Chinese instructions, knowingly served as a foreign agent, violated criminal law, or that CPAFFC dictated a particular vote or land acquisition. H.O.T. Government does not allege those things.

The investigation documents access, relationships, formalized exchanges, federal warnings, continued participation, and unresolved policy questions.

Records to obtain

• Complete 2015 SLLF–CPAFFC MOU, amendments, and termination records
• SLLF board minutes and correspondence
• Wisconsin legislative travel, expense, gift, and ethics disclosures
• Forum agendas and participant lists
• Pompeo briefing materials and counterintelligence warnings to Wisconsin officials
• Records from the Wisconsin Shanghai trade office
• Documents on Walker’s proposed land-cap repeal and the 2014 AG inquiry
• Legislative records on AB 269 and SB 7
• Foreign land ownership and beneficial-ownership data

Right of reply

Before final publication, H.O.T. Government should request responses from Robin Vos, Tyler August, SLLF, Stephen Lakis, Governor Tony Evers, former Governor Scott Walker, Wisconsin DATCP, WEDC, legislative leadership, the U.S. State Department, and NCSC—including when the CPAFFC partnership ended, whether exchanges continued after September 2020, who paid travel expenses, and whether related records will be released.

H.O.T. Government’s position

This investigation does not allege treason, bribes, or foreign-agent conduct. It documents that a formal channel of access existed; Wisconsin leaders participated; federal officials identified the foreign partner as a CCP influence organization; the warning was delivered publicly in Madison; participation and institutional ties continued; and the public has not received a full accounting of what occurred through that channel.

The question is whether Wisconsin’s citizens were told who was cultivating their elected leaders, what was discussed, and why those relationships continued after the warnings.