The Democratic Socialists of America is divided over the group’s connection to some Chinese Communist Party officials and efforts to silence criticism of China – with one member complaining it “isn’t what I signed up for,” a new report claims.
The DSA – of which Big Apple Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a member – has cozied up to the CCP and taken Beijing-aligned positions, sparking internal strife over orders to avoid discussing China’s touchy political issues in meetings, according to dozens of internal minutes obtained by Newsweek.
“The materials document a sustained pattern of ideological alignment, narrative filtering, and network overlap consistent with influence conducted at the discursive and organizational level,” said one member, who secretly provided the outlet with the behind-the-scenes records.
“We value democracy and openness, and this directly contradicts that.”
The meeting minutes, which date back to 2021, reveal members openly discussing contacts with China’s ruling party under the banner of “anti-imperialism,” and repeated trips to the East Asian nation to meet with CCP officials.
The documents also show DSA participants urging others to steer clear of certain politically sensitive Communist Party issues, such as China’s threats to invade Taiwan, its Hong Kong security crackdown, and abuses of the Uyghur Muslim minority, the outlet reported.
Mamdani did not take part in the controversial meetings included in the documents.
“This isn’t what I signed up for and I imagine it’s not what a majority of members signed up for,” the outraged member, who is part of DSA’s International Committee, said.
“There’s no way you can be a part of the organization and promote the things they’re doing.”
The minutes don’t indicate any wrongdoing, but cast a murky spotlight on possible Chinese influence in the group and across the nation, the outlet reported.
In an Oct. 8, 2025 meeting, a New York-based political activist boasted about building up the DSA’s China Working Group on the International Committee to deepen ties with Beijing.
“China wants to interface with the DSA,” said the person, whose name was redacted in the documents.
“If we develop a killer two-week eternity, hire locals, and develop further connections with the CPC [Communist Party of China[, then we’re golden.”
Members who questioned the organization’s stance on China were deemed unkind and pushed toward conversations meant to foster debate, according to the minutes, the outlet reported.
One participant, who raised concerns about the group ignoring Chinese rights, said: “Saying we can’t talk about their rights until we defeat American imperialism doesn’t work for me.”
The individual quickly apologized after the group chastised them.
The shocking new report comes about a month after The Post revealed DSA was holding monthly seminars about “modern China and lessons for US socialists.”
One December session, part of the DSA’s “political education” offerings made wild claims, like boasting about the communist country’s “strong democracy,” claiming China has the largest economy on Earth, and insisting that only state control of private businesses can save workers from the “oligarchy.”
“Reducing inequality is literally the number one goal of the Chinese Communist Party,” said speaker Ben Norton, an American studying Marxism in Beijing, who founded the conspiracy website Geopolitical Economy Report.
“People just make up so much nonsense about China.”
The seminars started in 2024 “with an internal series, and it went well enough, that’s why we wanted to take it public,” Anlin Wang, a member of the DSA’s International Committee, announced.
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