Key points:
- Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans is actively recruiting Americans for "Red China" and other themed tours that highlight China's communist history and socialist development.
- The trips are developed with the China Academy and Sunriver tourism, entities with contributors that include CCP-linked figures and members of the Singham network.
- Evans praised China as "a wonderland of socialist expression" and told potential travelers that understanding the Communist Party's Long March is essential to understanding modern China.
- The "Red China" itinerary includes visits to Communist Party memorials, historical re-enactments of the Long March, and studies of "socialist infrastructure."
- Federal lawmakers from multiple committees are investigating Code Pink and the Singham network for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), citing evidence of deep connections to CCP interests.
The curated journey into communist ideology
Imagine being offered a tour that promises not just sightseeing, but a political re-education. This is the essence of the trips Jodie Evans is selling. They are not simple vacations; they are immersive experiences designed to reshape one's view of the Chinese Communist Party. The "Red China" tour, for instance, meticulously guides travelers through the Party's founding sites, follows the path of Mao Zedong's Long March, and frames the CCP's history as a heroic struggle. Evans explicitly frames this as a corrective to Western thought, telling recruits, "if you want to just help, kind of floss your brain, going through the red process." This language reveals the trips' true purpose: to cleanse participants of perceived Western propaganda and replace it with a sanitized, celebratory view of Chinese communism, all while walking the very ground where Mao's policies led to the deaths of tens of millions.
The organizations behind these tours are deeply entangled with the propaganda apparatus under investigation. The China Academy, which co-develops the itineraries, lists among its contributors figures like Hu Xijin, the fiery former editor of the state-run Global Times, and Wang Xiangsui, a retired Chinese Air Force colonel. It also includes activists like Vijay Prashad and Rania Khalek, whose outlets are funded by Evans' husband, Neville Roy Singham. This fusion of CCP voices and Singham-network activists creates a seamless pipeline for messaging. Mimi Zhu of the China Academy, who helps lead the trips, admitted her own politicization came from a Code Pink seminar, stating she moved to China to be with "Code Pink comrades." This circular relationship shows how the network cultivates influencers who then design experiences to convert others.
A network under the microscope of Congress
The public recruitment for these trips is happening against a backdrop of escalating federal scrutiny. Lawmakers are not merely asking questions; they are demanding action. Senator Jim Banks has directly urged the Attorney General to investigate Code Pink for potential FARA violations, stating, "Code Pink also receives significant funding and likely receives direction from agents of the CCP." The financial link is central. Senator Tom Cotton's office notes that since Evans married Singham in 2017, Code Pink has received over $1.4 million from sources linked to him, a timeline that coincides with the group's sharp pivot toward pro-Beijing advocacy.
This network's activities extend far beyond tourism. The Singham-funded web includes groups like The People's Forum, which praises China's authoritarian policies, and media outlets like BreakThrough News. They mobilize anti-Israel protests, oppose U.S. immigration enforcement, and have been accused of supporting violent unrest. Peter Schweizer of the Government Accountability Institute has labeled this system a "coordinated movement incubator." When you connect the dots, the "Red China" tours appear as one facet of a larger operation: using U.S. nonprofit dollars to fund a constellation of groups that amplify CCP talking points, undermine American foreign policy, and actively demonize the United States as "the belly of the beast," as Mimi Zhu described it.
Code Pink's standard defense—that they are merely a peace group funded by private donations—rings hollow against this evidence. Their campaigns parrot Beijing's positions exactly: dismissing concerns about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, pushing the "China is not our enemy" narrative, and aggressively promoting the CCP's stance on Taiwan. Their activists disrupt congressional hearings to shout down China critics, performances celebrated by China's state-run People's Daily. When a group's actions consistently align with the strategic interests of a foreign adversary, and when it is funded by that adversary's ideological allies, the line between activism and foreign agency becomes dangerously blurred. The American people are witnessing not a peace movement, but a sophisticated influence operation, and the "Red China" tours are its most vivid recruiting tool.
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