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A Chinese diplomat who has repeatedly praised the Chinese Communist Party is still fulfilling his role as the consul general of China’s New York Consulate despite conflicting narratives from the Biden State Department and New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul about the diplomat no longer being in his role.
Hochul said during a press conference almost two weeks ago that she supported Huang Ping being expelled from New York after he was referenced dozens of times in an indictment involving one of her former top aides and said that she was "informed" by the State Department that he was "no longer in the New York mission."
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller contradicted Hochul's comments hours later, saying the "consul general was not expelled" and that Ping "reached the end of a regularly scheduled rotation in August" and rotated out of the position. However, a Fox News Digital review of Ping's social media shows that he hasn't left the position in New York and is still pictured throughout the New York consulate's website.
"Consul General Huang Ping is performing his duties as usual," a consulate spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. "He will leave his post as planned after completing his term. We strongly oppose any malicious associations, defamation, and smearing of Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel. We call on the media to adhere to journalistic ethics."
Ping, who has been the consul general of China’s New York Consulate since 2018 and has repeatedly called the CCP a "great party," posted photos at the Chinese consulate in New York on his X account Tuesday, saying, "We celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China with nearly 700 Chinese Americans and students, enjoying the traditional Chinese culture and cuisine."
China expert and author Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow in Indo-Pacific studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, sounded off on the Biden State Department in a statement to Fox News Digital for not punishing Ping and allowing him to stay in his post.
"Huang Ping frequently coordinated with Linda Sun as she sought to advance Beijing’s interests in New York. That activity crosses a line and deserves appropriate retaliation to deter future attempts to influence American public servants," said Sobolik, who wrote the book "Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance."
"The State Department’s hesitancy to decisively punish Huang makes America more vulnerable to Beijing’s malign influence," he added.
Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, Linda Sun, and her husband, Chris Hu, were arrested earlier this month, and Sun was charged "with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy," according to a Department of Justice press release.
Fox News Digital previously exposed Ping's ties to Hochul, but the unsealed indictment shed light on the close working relationship between Sun and Ping.
The unsealed indictment revealed that a speechwriter for then-Lt. Gov. Hochul wanted to mention the "Uyghur situation," in China for her 2021 Lunar New Year message, but the plight of the minority group being persecuted by the Chinese government was ultimately omitted after Sun overruled the speechwriter. The indictment says Sun revealed to Ping what the speechwriter wanted to include, but insisted that she would not let her boss mention Uyghurs after admitting that she was "starting to lose her temper" with the speechwriter.
Ping appeared to chalk up the speechwriter’s suggestion as a clueless American who had never visited China and that U.S.-China relations could "sour" because of "people like the speechwriter," the indictment said, prompting Sun to concur that the speechwriter had never visited China. Ping would go on to post Hochul’s Lunar New Year message days later on his Facebook page, which did not mention Uyghurs.
The indictment also claimed that Sun repeatedly used her government positions in the Cuomo and Hochul administrations to block "representatives of the Taiwanese government" from meeting with high-ranking New York government officials, including Hochul and Cuomo, and would then boast about her actions with Chinese officials, including Ping.
In one instance, she texted a Chinese official in the fall of 2020 to say she "almost had a heart attack when we referred to Taiwan as a country" and let the official know that she "had the press team correct it immediately," according to the indictment.
These positions are espoused by Ping in a podcast that Fox News Digital previously reported on.
In return for Sun allegedly acting on behalf of the Chinese government in her government roles, the indictment also lists several gifts she and her husband received from Chinese officials, including luxury tickets to concerts and other New York-based events and travel benefits, and Ping gifted Sun’s parents with Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by his chef.
The indictment also listed the "facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Sun’s husband," which the indictment says was used to purchase real estate property in Manhasset, New York, for $3.6 million, a $1.9 million condo in Honolulu, and other luxury purchases, including a 2024 Ferrari.
Ping's social media post on Tuesday wasn't the only post he has sent out in New York since Hochul's press conference and when the indictment was unsealed on Sept. 4. The following day, Ping attended the China Institute's Blue Cloud Gala at the Plaza Hotel in New York, according to a social media post on Sept. 6, saying, "We need such vision, courage, faith and solidarity for deeper people-to-people ties between our two countries."
On Sept. 9, Ping posted photos from the 90th birthday party for Dr. James C. Hsiung, who Ping called, "an outstanding scholar and tenured professor of NYU." The birthday party appeared to be located at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in New York, according to the name of one of the boardrooms.
Fox News Digital has reported extensively on Ping's relationship with Democratic politicians at the state and local levels in New York and Pennsylvania, two of 10 states that are covered by the consulate's jurisdiction. In addition to meeting with politicians, he has been a guest at the Empire State Building, New York Stock Exchange, Conde Nast and several universities, including UPenn, Harvard, Tufts and Princeton.
He has also attended several Chinese parades in New York and has been spotted cozying up to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sun's attorney Jarrod Schaeffer previously told Fox News Digital that he and Sun are "troubled by aspects of the government’s investigation."
"We are disappointed by the filing of these charges, which are inflammatory and appear to be the product of an overly aggressive prosecution," Schaeffer said. "As we said today in court, our client is eager to exercise her right to a speedy trial and to defend against these accusations in the proper forum — a court of law."
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and Gov. Hochul's office.
