An American tech millionaire who is a strong supporter of left-wing causes in the US and Britain has been named as the central figure in a global network of pro-China propaganda.
Neville Roy Singham, 69, is waging a “generously funded campaign of influence that defends China and spreads its propaganda” around the world, according to a New York Times research published Saturday.
The report identified Singham, an outspoken socialist, as a key backer of the transatlantic activist collective No Cold War and of Code Pink, the US anti-war group that once criticized China’s human rights violations but has now become the talking points of the Chinese Communist Party. Party repeats.
Singham’s millions in funding, funneled through unremarkable US nonprofits, also supports a liberal think tank in Massachusetts, a political party in South Africa and news organizations in India and Brazil, according to the report.
The groups in the network often appear to mix traditional progressive concerns such as climate change and racial justice with sharp pro-Chinese talking points, including defending the detention of ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang and bashing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Neville Roy Singham, seen with his wife Jodie Evans, is waging a “generously funded influence campaign that defends China and pushes its propaganda” around the world, according to a New York Times investigation
In February, Code Pink activists disrupted a hearing of a House special committee dedicated to countering threats from China
According to the Times, the groups often share staff and offices, promote each other’s social media content and interview each other’s representatives without disclosing their affiliations.
Singham, who lives in Shanghai, shares an office there with a Chinese media company called Maku Group, which appears to be dedicated to producing foreign propaganda.
In a statement to the Times, Singham said: “I categorically deny and reject any suggestion that I am a member of, work for, follow orders or follow instructions from any political party or government or their representatives.”
“I am guided solely by my beliefs, which are my long-held personal views,” he added.
Neville Roy Singham, the son of left-wing academic Archibald Singham, made his millions with ThoughtWorks, the software company he founded in Chicago in the late 1980s.
In 2017, he married Jodie Evans, a former Democratic political consultant and co-founder of Code Pink, the anti-war group formed in 2002 to oppose the US invasion of Iraq.
Six months after his marriage, he sold ThoughtWorks to a private equity firm for $785 million, according to the Times.
Since then, Code Pink has received about $1.4 million in donations from groups associated with Singham, accounting for about a quarter of the group’s donations, according to the Times.
Singham is seen with Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans (center) and progressive philanthropist Abigail Disney at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival
In London, Singham-backed group No Cold War helped organize this rally against racism in 2021, but clashed with pro-democracy groups speaking out against the Chinese government
US Capitol police officers remove a protester during a hearing of a House special committee committed to fighting China in February
One activist held up a sign reading “China is not our enemy,” while another held up a similar hand-drawn sign reading “Stop Asian Hate.”
Evans, once a critic of China’s authoritarian ruling Communist Party, has changed her tone.
She now vocally supports China, labeling the ethnic minority Uighurs as terrorists and supporting their detention in one video from 2021.
In February, Code Pink activists disrupted a hearing of a House special committee dedicated to countering threats from China.
One activist held up a sign that read “China is not our enemy,” while another held up a similar hand-drawn sign that read “Stop Asian Hate,” a slogan that first emerged to protest racist violence against Asians. Americans.
Code Pink did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Saturday.
Evans told the Times that Code Pink had never taken money from any government, saying, “I deny your suggestion that I follow the directions of any political party, my husband or any other government or their representatives.”
“I’ve always followed my values,” she added.