President Donald Trump’s alma mater was recently sold from one individual with extensive ties to China’s intelligence arms to another, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.
“Allen” Lu Yuzong, CEO of Guanghua Education Group, recently purchased the New York Military Academy (NYMA), which Trump attended between 1959 and 1964, from the CEO of SouFun Holdings, “Vincent” Mo Tianquan, for an undisclosed amount, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Mo initially acquired the bankrupt academy in 2015 for approximately $16 million dollars using a nonprofit he controls called the Research Center on Natural Conservation, Chinese state media reported at the time.
Mo and Lu have both worked for the Chinese government as well as agencies within an intelligence and influence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), according to Chinese government and state media reports translated by the DCNF, raising concerns among analysts that NYMA might be used as a staging ground for covert operations, especially given its close proximity and relationship with West Point Military Academy.
West Point denied that it had any relationship with NYMA.
NYMA, Lu and Mo did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
[Image created by DCNF with New York Military Academy photos]
‘Jackpot’
China’s military and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence networks may view NYMA’s acquisition as a way to forge ties with individuals who will “have interaction, perhaps by proximity or otherwise, with West Point,” Steve Yates, senior research fellow for China and national security policy at the Heritage Foundation, told the DCNF. The acquisition could also be seen as a means to connect with influential alumni, which include filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, composer Stephen Sondheim and now the president of the United States, according to NYMA.
“I have no question that Chinese intelligence and military entities would see that as high value,” said Yates, who previously served as a Chinese language analyst for the National Security Agency and deputy national security adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney. “Here is a way to try to cultivate connections that may lead to either influence or a potential encounter with the president at some point.”
“They have a lot of people, and they can play the odds, so they can be wrong 999 times, but, if one of these people ends up being the president of the United States one day, that’s jackpot,” Yates said.
Lu and Mo have both held numerous positions with Chinese government and UFWD agencies, according to Chinese government and state media reports.
The UFWD’s operations are a “unique blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations that the [CCP] uses to shape its political environment, including to influence other countries’ policy toward the [People’s Republic of China] and to gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the House Select Committee on the CCP.
Among other roles, both Lu and Mo have served as officials for a UFWD subordinate called the Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA), which is one of the two “most important” organizations involved in China’s technology transfer efforts, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC).
NYMA’s former owner-turned-board member, Mo, is listed as a “director” by WRSA, according to a DCNF translation of the association’s website. NYMA’s new board chairman, Lu, serves as the deputy chairman of WRSA’s “global liaison work committee,” according to a DCNF translation of a UFWD announcement.
Lu met with high-ranking CCP and UFWD officials at a WRSA branch in Zhejiang province in November 2022 to discuss talent recruitment operations for the region, according to a UFWD announcement. Several years prior, Zhejiang’s city of Rui’an held a conference for the Thousand Talents Plan, during which Lu was appointed to serve as a “talent ambassador,” Chinese state media reported. The Thousand Talents Plan is one of the Chinese government’s many “talent recruitment plans,” all of which incentivize participants to “steal foreign technologies needed to advance China’s national, military, and economic goals,” according to the FBI.
Both Lu and Mo have also served as delegates to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), according to the Chinese government. CPPCC “delegates attend a high-profile annual meeting to receive direction from the CCP regarding the ways its policies should be characterized” and “serve as proxies for CCP interests,” according to USCC.
Chinese government announcements include photos showing both Lu and Mo wearing the CPPCC’s distinctive red, clip-on delegate’s badge during related press events.
[Image created by DCNF with UFWD, Chinese government, and state media photos]
‘Bad Deal’
NYMA has taken students to visit the West Point Museum and Chapel, it has held events at West Point’s Eisenhower Hall and Hudson Room, and has used West Point’s campus to “enhance” leadership training programs in recent years, according to NYMA announcements. The academy has also brought visitors from China to tour West Point, NYMA announcements state.
“West Point has no affiliation with the New York Military Academy,” a West Point spokesman told the DCNF. “Entrance to the United States Military Academy grounds is governed by rigorous security protocols. For security reasons, we will not provide further details about security measures.”
Trump appears to have a soft spot for his alma mater, whose cadets marched during his inauguration ceremonies in 2017 and 2025, footage shows.
Trump entered NYMA as a private in 1959, served as a company commander, and ultimately achieved the rank of “Captain, S-4, Senior Staff” by his graduation in 1964, according to NYMA photos and records. While attending NYMA, Trump played a variety of team sports including football, wrestling and baseball, and was named “ladies’ man” by a “popularity poll,” photos show.
“President Trump is proud of his time at the New York Military Academy. He learned important virtues that helped him become one of the greatest businessmen in the world and ultimately President of the United States twice,” Steven Cheung, White House communications director, told the DCNF.
NYMA’s sale to individuals connected to the Chinese government and UFWD is a “bad deal” for the U.S. and presents a national security threat, Michael Lucci, CEO of State Armor, a nonprofit focused on countering the CCP, told the DCNF.
“The CCP and its members should not own property within the U.S., nor should they be involved in our education system. And most importantly, the CCP should be kept as far as possible from any of our key military assets such as West Point,” Lucci said. “The NYMA should be removed from Chinese ownership as soon as possible.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from the White House.
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