An official in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ administration is the son of a Chinatown powerbroker and Democratic donor who has praised the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and works with foreign intelligence agencies, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.
Adam Ma has held multiple positions in Bass’ office, his LinkedIn profile states, and now serves as both the city’s liaison for Asian-Americans and director of commission appointments, according to the Los Angeles government website. His father, who raised tens of thousands of dollars for Bass’ mayoral campaign, previously lauded the Communist Party for creating a “strong China” and is listed as an official by multiple arms of a Chinese government influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD).
“If China didn’t have the CCP, there’d be no strong China today, overseas Chinese compatriots send the highest praise and admiration to the CCP,” Adam Ma’s father, Ma Shurong, said in July 2021 to commemorate the Party’s 100th anniversary, according to a DCNF translation of a Chinese government announcement.
“The Communist Party’s UFWD has, in fact, penetrated Karen Bass’s office,” Gordon Chang, China expert and author of “Plan Red: China’s Project To Destroy America,” told the DCNF. “There is a high probability that, wittingly or unwittingly, she is implementing Chinese Communist plans to take down our country. She may be a loyal American, but she has almost certainly become a danger to America.”
Bass, Adam Ma and Ma Shurong did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Bass has risen to national prominence as a central figure in the Democratic Party’s resistance to President Donald Trump’s deportation policies as Los Angeles struggles to grapple with a series of riots opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that began in the city on June 6.
Although the Trump administration’s “targeted enforcement operations” in Los Angeles have apprehended illegal aliens previously convicted of homicide, drug trafficking and lewd acts with a minor, Bass called for ICE to “stop the raids” during a June 9 press conference, saying she felt her city was “part of an experiment that we did not ask to be a part of.”
‘Overseas United Front’
Ma Shurong, whose English name is Derek Ma, has extensive ties to high-ranking CCP leaders and has served as an official within multiple UFWD agencies, according to Chinese government 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 positions, Ma Shurong is listed as an “overseas committee member” by the All-China Federation Of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC), which is a UFWD agency, according to the Department of Justice. Ma Shurong was one of 20 ACFROC officials who delivered speeches alongside that agency’s chief, Wan Lijun, during the group’s August 2018 conference within Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, according to the UFWD agency.
Over the last 10 years, Ma Shurong has met with leaders from at least 10 regional ACFROC branches including officials from Anji, Foshan, Jiangmen, Kaiping, Shantou, Taishan, Wuyi, Yunfu, Guangzhou and Guangdong, during which he repeatedly promised to strengthen cooperation with ACFROC, a DCNF translation of Chinese government documents found.
[Image created by DCNF with pics from Chinese government, ACFROC and Sing Tao]
In addition to his ACFROC positions, Ma Shurong is also listed as a “director” by the China Overseas Friendship Association (COFA), which is “an important platform through which the UFWD co-opts and interacts with overseas United Front figures,” according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), a legislative branch commission created by Congress to monitor and investigate the national security implications of the relationships between the U.S. and China.
Ma Shurong has attended COFA conferences in China as well, including in 2019, with Chinese state media footage showing him smiling as General Secretary Xi Jinping greeted the UFWD agency’s top operatives. Four years prior, Ma Shurong was also among a group of select overseas Chinese leaders invited to meet with Xi Jinping when he visited Seattle in September 2015. Ma Shurong clapped for the dictator during his speech, Chinese state media footage shows.
Other UFWD arms have also identified Ma Shurong as a director, including the related China Overseas Exchange Association (COEA), which was an organization operating under the UFWD in its final years until it was subsumed by COFA in 2019, according to the Chinese government. As with ACFROC and COFA, Ma Shurong also attended COEA conferences in China, including one September 2017 meeting in Beijing, Chinese state media footage shows.
[Image created by DCNF with pics from Huarenone]
‘CCP Influence Campaigns’
Adam Ma and his parents, Ma Shurong and Daisy Ma, all supported Bass’ 2022 mayoral campaign through fundraising and other activities, according to Chinese language news reports.
Ma Shurong and Adam Ma held a press conference endorsing Bass’ mayoral campaign in Los Angeles at the Golden Dragon Restaurant on Sept. 10, 2022, Chinese language news outlet ChineseNewsUSA.com reported. Daisy Ma also attended.
Several Chinese American lawmakers, including California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, endorsed Bass during the event, footage shows. One photo from the event that Bass posted to X shows her standing beside Ma Shurong, Daisy Ma and other supporters.
The next month, Ma Shurong held a fundraiser for Bass at the Golden Dragon Restaurant on Oct. 13, 2022, which netted over $40,000 for her campaign, Chinese language news outlet Huarenone.com reported. Adam Ma and his mother both donated $1,000 to Bass around this time, according to records on the California Secretary of State’s website.
After Bass won the mayoral election, Ma Shurong and his wife attended her inauguration on Dec. 12, 2022, according to a Huarenone.com report. Bass was photographed at the event with both Ma Shurong and his wife, images accompanying the article show.
“From the start we decided to support her and feel happy that she will become the new mayor of Los Angeles,” Ma Shurong told reporters, before adding that he was also happy his son would be joining her team, according to a DCNF translation of the report.
Daisy Ma did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
[Image created by DCNF with pics from 52hrtt, Sing Tao, Chinese News USA and a screenshot from Ella Bee Media Group]
Adam Ma joined Bass’ team in December 2022 as a director of both her transition office and commission appointments, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The next month, Bass served as the grand marshal during the Los Angeles Chinese Lunar New Year parade in January 2023, ABC News reported. During the parade, Adam Ma rode with the mayor in the city‘s vehicle, photos Bass included in an X post reveal.
Ma Shurong also participated in the parade, footage from the event shows, and was photographed by Sing Tao in a group photo with Bass, Chu and a former Los Angeles Police Department reserve commander named Chester Chong, who has also held multiple positions within UFWD arms like COFA and COEA, the DCNF previously reported.
As a representative for Bass, Adam Ma also attended another Chinese Lunar New Year banquet in Los Angeles in February 2023 held by the Chinese American Unity Alliance, according to ChineseNewsUSA.com. The Chinese American Unity Alliance is a nonprofit that is run by Ma Shurong and his wife, according to business records filed with the California Secretary of State.
Two officials from the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate also attended that banquet, including An Mingshuan, according to ChineseNewsUSA.com, whom the UFWD identifies as its consul. On behalf of Bass, Adam Ma presented his father and the nonprofit with a framed congratulatory award during the banquet, according to the ChineseNewsUSA.com report and accompanying photos.
Several months later, Adam Ma began working as Bass’ liaison for Asian Americans and the “LGBTQIA+” community in May 2023, his LinkedIn profile states. Adam Ma again rode with the mayor in the city’s vehicle during the June 2024 Los Angeles gay pride parade, footage Bass posted to X shows.
Adam Ma remains active in the Los Angeles mayor’s office and was recently photographed with Bass and others commemorating “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month” on May 2, 2025.
The City of Los Angeles paid Adam Ma $129,534.10 in 2024, according to the California State Controller’s Office.
“CCP influence campaigns target local elected officials just like our national leaders,” New York Times bestselling author of “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win,” Peter Schweizer, told the DCNF. “In many ways they can be even more effective there. Mayor Bass needs to come clean about her ties to these funders.”
(Featured Image Media Credit: Image created by DCNF with screenshot from Voyager’s Diary – Through My Lenses’ YouTube account and Canva)
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