Exposed: The CCP’s United Front Network in America’s Heartland, Part III

In the heart of Minnesota, far from Beijing’s skyline, a quiet network of pro-China operatives has been building influence for decades — embedding itself in cultural programs, local business circles, and even state-sponsored community partnerships. What looks like cultural outreach and business exchange may in fact be a pipeline of influence tied directly to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) global agenda.

In earlier parts of this investigation, it was revealed that a small brick building on North Eustis Street in St. Paul serves as home base for a web of organizations connected to Beijing’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) — the CCP’s powerful arm for spreading propaganda and cultivating influence abroad. The Minnesota Overseas Chinese Service Center (OCSC), operating from that address, has been in direct contact with the UFWD through its listed representative, Dr. Bingwen Yan, who used a University of Minnesota email account as the official CCP contact point. Investigators say such arrangements echo patterns seen in alleged “police station” operations elsewhere in the U.S.

Now, attention turns to another key figure within this network — Ma Yuanzhuo, also known as Vincent Mar. A University of Minnesota graduate, Mar has spent decades weaving connections between Beijing’s political apparatus and American institutions. Public records show that since the mid-1980s, he has served in or founded multiple groups guided by the CCP’s United Front strategy, including the Chinese American Association of Minnesota and the Minnesota Chinese World — both tied to the same St. Paul OCSC hub.

Mar’s track record extends far beyond Minnesota. He has held posts in organizations such as the China Overseas Exchange Association (COEA) and the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association (COFA), both considered by intelligence experts to be United Front fronts for influence and information operations. In May 2019, Mar met directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior Communist officials during high-level CCP conferences in Beijing, where it was decided that COFA and COEA would formally merge under the UFWD — effectively tightening Beijing’s control over global Chinese outreach.

Mar’s most senior role came as Deputy Secretary-General of the China Overseas Chinese International Cultural Exchange Promotion Association, which operates under the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC). The CCP itself has described ACFROC as “a bridge and a bond for the party and government to connect with overseas Chinese compatriots.” U.S. prosecutors recently linked an ACFROC member, “Linda Sun,” to an alleged covert CCP influence operation in New York — underscoring the growing concerns about such organizations’ political and intelligence activities inside the United States.

Mar’s Minnesota-based projects appear to have followed the same playbook. In 2018, Beijing’s Sichuan Overseas Chinese Federation announced a U.S. tour to promote “friendship work” and Chinese cultural initiatives — including art performances and a liquor brand launch. The group’s official itinerary listed a meeting with Mar and a cooperation agreement with his Chinese American Business Association of Minnesota (CABAM). The following month, Mar hosted a large “Embrace China, Beautiful Sichuan” performance in Minneapolis — attended by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other officials — and later helped promote the liquor brand Shede Spirits in Los Angeles.

Notably, CABAM had already been dissolved as a nonprofit a year earlier. Yet the group continued to function, organizing events and even coordinating COVID-era donations of medical supplies to China. In 2023, CABAM resurfaced again as an organizer for a Twin Cities cultural festival.

Mar’s reach extended beyond nonprofit work. His company, Bactrac Technologies, received state certification in 2016 under Minnesota’s Angel Tax Credit Program, granting a 25 percent refundable credit to investors. The question for taxpayers is whether public incentives intended for local innovation were indirectly benefiting entities intertwined with CCP-linked ventures.

Mar’s business trajectory often mirrored Beijing’s political priorities. In 2009, as the CCP launched its “Cultural Industries Reinvigoration Plan” to merge propaganda with commerce, Mar responded by creating AC Orange (Juooo.com) — a performing arts platform operating in both Minnesota and China. The company grew rapidly, becoming China’s largest entertainment ticketing and event management platform. Its leadership ties include Geng Jun, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — a top-level CCP advisory body central to the United Front network.

By controlling both the art content and its distribution, AC Orange became not just a commercial enterprise but a tool for shaping cultural narratives. Its international partnerships — such as a 2017 deal with a UK theater company witnessed by then–Vice Premier Liu Yandong — were framed as “cultural diplomacy.” In reality, these events advanced Beijing’s strategic goal of enlisting foreign institutions in amplifying state-approved narratives.

The bigger concern is not a single businessman or performance troupe, but a coordinated system that embeds CCP influence deep inside local American communities. Cultural exchanges, business associations, and charity programs that appear benign can become vehicles for soft-power infiltration — cultivating relationships with officials, universities, and donors, all while advancing Beijing’s long-term interests.

Vincent Mar declined to comment for this report.

What this investigation exposes is not just a foreign policy issue — it’s a local one. When influence operations reach into U.S. states and universities, they erode transparency, threaten national security, and blur the line between cultural outreach and political control. The Chinese Communist Party’s United Front strategy depends on one thing: Americans not paying attention.

That complacency ends with investigations like this — and with the vigilance of citizens who still believe that transparency, sovereignty, and freedom come before foreign influence.

Part IV of this joint investigation will continue tracing Vincent Mar’s connections, focusing on his suspected role in Beijing’s global surveillance web — and what it reveals about the CCP’s expanding reach inside the United States.