Two high-profile controversies involving American ties to China have erupted this week, thrusting questions of national security, corporate responsibility, and political loyalty into the limelight. On one hand, a major ad campaign has accused Chubb Limited, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, and its CEO Evan Greenberg of maintaining deep connections with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On the other, a U.S. Foreign Service Officer has been fired after admitting to a secret relationship with the daughter of a Chinese government official—an episode caught on hidden camera and quickly weaponized in the ongoing debate over foreign influence.
The first firestorm began on October 9, 2025, when Consumers’ Research, a nonprofit known for targeting corporations it claims put politics above consumers, unveiled its “China Chubb” campaign. The campaign, which is part of the group’s broader Consumers First Initiative, alleges that Chubb Limited and Greenberg have “deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party.” According to Fox News, the effort includes a national 30-second television ad, a new website (ChinaChubb.com), a mobile billboard set to roll through Washington, D.C.—including Capitol Hill and Chubb’s own Washington office—and a blitz of sponsored digital content on social media and news sites. The campaign’s message is direct: Chubb and Greenberg are “cozying up to the CCP” and “using their market power and resources to push a woke, political agenda on the American people.”
Chubb, which operates in 54 countries (including China) and employs more than 40,000 people worldwide, was quick to push back. A spokesperson for the company called the campaign “completely dishonest” in a statement to Fox News Digital, adding, “Evan has called out China’s authoritarian approach and predatory practices. He has repeatedly called for the U.S. to stand up and defend its interests.” The spokesperson’s defense was echoed by Robert O’Brien, former National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, who said, “I’ve worked with Evan Greenberg for several years now on American relations with China. In my dealings with Evan, he has been a proponent of U.S. interests in the region. Through its operations in China, his company has contributed to shrinking the U.S. trade deficit.”
Still, the accusations against Greenberg are not without foundation. According to Fox News, Greenberg has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping multiple times, including a 2023 event in San Francisco where Greenberg introduced Xi to a gathering of American business and political leaders. In 2024, Greenberg was photographed shaking hands with Xi in Beijing, and he has publicly praised China’s economic growth and “resilience and vitality.” At the 2023 San Francisco event, Greenberg said, “Like many others in this room, I believe that a strong and prosperous China that supports and invests in the international system can be a force for good in the world.”
Greenberg’s ties extend beyond the diplomatic. In November 2023, he was elected board chair of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a group that sold $40,000 tickets to Americans wishing to attend a banquet with Xi Jinping—a move criticized by the House Select Committee on the CCP. Greenberg also sits on the advisory board of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, an institution with direct links to China’s national security and defense apparatus. Other American business heavyweights on the board include Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein.
Greenberg’s public statements have sometimes struck a conciliatory tone. He has called on the U.S. to “tone down rhetoric about Taiwan,” warned against treating U.S.-China competition as a “new cold war,” and labeled some American trade protections as “wrongheaded” and “unwise.” In a 2022 shareholder letter, Greenberg wrote, “Taiwan presents the most proximate risk of conflict for the U.S.-China relationship,” and acknowledged Beijing’s ambitions to pull Taiwan into its orbit. Yet, he has also criticized China’s “revanchist efforts” and “bullying behavior,” noting that such conduct has driven many countries closer to the United States.
Chubb’s own annual reports reflect a nuanced, sometimes critical view of China. The 2022 report stated that the U.S. seeks an Indo-Pacific region “free from Chinese hegemony,” while the 2023 report described China as “a revisionist and revanchist power that is pursuing a large-scale expansion in military capabilities.”
Greenberg’s family connections add another layer of complexity. His father, Hank Greenberg, has orchestrated business deals and meetings with CCP officials, including a Xi-endorsed event ahead of a U.S.-China summit in 2022. Hank Greenberg’s company, C.V. Starr, owns more than 90% of a Chinese insurer formerly known as Dazhong.
Meanwhile, Chubb’s business dealings in China have deepened: in 2022, the company secured government approval to acquire majority control of Huatai Insurance Group, a Chinese firm with over $10 billion in assets. Chubb’s stake has since grown to 85.5%.
The campaign from Consumers’ Research is not without its own critics. Fox News contributor and China expert Michael Pillsbury noted that Greenberg has played a role in communicating American business grievances to the Chinese government, helping to facilitate meetings between U.S. CEOs and Xi Jinping. “Learning how badly American companies have been treated helps President Trump because he is determined to end outrageous mistreatment of American companies,” Pillsbury said.
Still, Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild stood by the campaign’s message, stating, “Despite growing warnings from U.S. intelligence about the risks posed by the Chinese Communist Party, Chubb has invested billions of dollars in Chinese companies, and Greenberg continues to treat Chinese President Xi Jinping as a partner and friend, even meeting personally with Xi Jinping and publicly introducing him as a force for good.” Hild added, “As the saying goes, your friends show who you really are, and Greenberg’s actions have made it clear he is all in on the CCP.”
While the Chubb controversy played out in the boardrooms and airwaves, a separate drama was unfolding within the U.S. State Department. Daniel Choi, a Foreign Service Officer, was caught on hidden camera by an undercover journalist from O’Keefe Media Group admitting to a secret romantic relationship with the daughter of a Chinese Communist Party affiliate. “I defied my government for love,” Choi confessed on camera, also noting that the woman “could have been a spy” and that her father was “straight up Communist Party.” Choi admitted he failed to report the relationship to security officials, as required by protocol.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded by recommending Choi’s termination—a recommendation approved by President Donald Trump. The State Department, citing President Trump’s Executive Order 14211, announced on October 9, 2025, that Choi had been fired for failing to faithfully implement the President’s foreign policy. According to a department spokesperson, this marked the first time such action had been taken under the new order. “The FSO admitted to concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national, whom, he said on camera, ‘could have been a spy.’ He also said that her father was ‘straight up Communist Party,’” the Department stated.
Both controversies—one corporate, one governmental—reflect the heightened scrutiny and suspicion surrounding U.S.-China relations in 2025. Whether in the boardroom or the embassy, the question of where loyalties lie, and how much risk is too much, remains at the center of the national conversation.
