(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A newly unearthed photo of Eric Swalwell with a senior Chinese diplomat has renewed scrutiny of the embattled Democrat lawmaker’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Reported Saturday by Fox News, the photo was posted by China’s San Francisco consulate in 2013, during the period when Swalwell was targeted by Chinese espionage.
The image was liked by Christine Fang, the Chinese national also known as “Fang Fang,” who U.S. counterintelligence officials say targeted Swalwell on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security.
The photo shows Swalwell, then a freshman in Congress, with Song Ru’an, who at the time was the deputy consul general at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. Its caption states that Swalwell had touted the “great potential” for collaboration between the U.S. and China, claiming the two “have a lot in common.”
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 31, 2026
Swalwell stated, “I will work actively to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and I’m looking forward to visiting China in the near future.”
Swalwell has faced damning questions about his relationship with Fang, which was central to a House Ethics Committee investigation.
In 2020, he declined to say whether he had a sexual relationship with Fang, who Axios reported slept with two mayors as part of an intelligence campaign.
He has also downplayed his ties, claiming he sought to protect classified information related to a federal investigation into Fang’s potential espionage.
The newly unearthed photo emerges as Swalwell seeks the Democratic nomination for California governor, as incumbent Gavin Newsom reaches his term limit.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton slammed Swalwell following the discovery of the photo.
“These people never give up power voluntarily and they are always on the look-out for the ‘useful idiots’ and gullible stooges who they can target with their influence operations,” Hilton said of China. “Seems like they found the perfect mark in Eric Swalwell, and it’s somewhat alarming that the poor judgment is still being repeated, as we learned with the recent revelations about CCP-linked donations to his campaign.”
