Spa operator brought head of Chinese Communist Party’s Florida group to mingle with Trump aides

South Florida day spa entrepreneur Li “Cindy” Yang — now famous for her Super Bowl party selfie with the president — used her burgeoning political access to bring Xianqin Qu, a leader from the foreign arm of the Communist Party of China, to an event where she met top Republicans and members of the Trump administration, including Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump.

Qu is the president of the Florida Chapter of the Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Unification — a group ”directly subordinate” to the Communist Party of China, according to a 2018 U.S. government report. The group’s stated purpose is to push for reunification of China and Taiwan, although in recent years members in chapters around the world actively promoted a wide range of policies in harmony with Beijing’s agenda abroad.

“Blood is thicker than soil,” said Qu, speaking about China/Taiwan relations at a South Florida event hosted by the Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Unification last summer, according to a translation of the organization’s website.

Organizations like the Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Unification “actively cultivate ties to campaign donors and politicians in the United States in order to lobby for Beijing’s policy priorities, [and] encourage overseas Chinese to get involved in politics to advocate for Beijing’s interests,” said a 2018 staff research report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.