Chinese Mission Creep: Trump State Department Bureaucrats Appears to Back U.S. Company With Indirect Ties to CCP

Are President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio going to openly support the African nation of Liberia's recent signing off on a controversial rail program with Ivanhoe Atlantic, a newly-formed American company whose parent Canadian company, Ivanhoe Mines, Ltd.,  is directly tied to the Chinese Communist (CCP) Party through its shareholders?

According to Dr. J Peter Pham, who appears to have been instrumental in lobbying the project to the White House and State Department, the Trump administration is supporting Ivanhoe Atlantic's deal with Liberia. Dr. Pham's tweet could imply that Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau also supports the deal.

In response to the meeting, Dep. Sec Landau said the Trump administration was "excited about business opportunities in Africa and other parts of the world that benefit US companies and foreign nations.

"I was a great meeting! The United States is excited about business opportunities in Africa and other parts of the world that benefit US companies and foreign nations. US private capital can be a great boon to world development and our own security and prosperity," stated Sec. Landau on social media.

But would a deal like this benefit foreign nations like the People's Republic of China and its government, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)?

Ivanhoe Atlantic has also openly stating that the Trump administration, in particularly officials at the State Department— especially the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia—are supporting the deal.

It's important to note that almost all US iron needs are met domestically (~90%) and what imports there are primarily from the western hemisphere – Canada and Brazil.

The Floridian first reported that Ivanhoe Atlantic, which is based in Delaware and has a Post Office box as its mailing address, was previously known as High Power Exploration (HPX). HPX and became Ivanhoe Atlantic in December 2024, was directly linked to Ivanhoe Mines, LTD.

While the company's founder, Robert Friedland,  owns 12.08% of the company, Hong Kong-based Zijin Mining Group Company Limited owns 12.23%, and Beijing-based China CITIC Bank Corporation owns 22.33%. Curioulsly enough, 50.77% of Ivanhoe Mines' ownership is unknown.

Zijin Mining Group is listed as a state-owned entity in Shanghai County, Fujian Province, by Reuters, and China CITIC Bank Corporation proudly states on its website that it is "a leading state-owned multinational financial and industrial conglomerate."

After the link between the CCP and Ivanhoe Mines was established, Ivanhoe Atlantic chief executive officer Bronwyn Barnes came out in defense of the company, stating that Ivanhoe Atlantic was an "American company" that did not have "Chinese shareholders."

“You know, we’re not here playing mining, we don’t play mining anymore, we’re playing geopolitics,” Barnes recently said. “We don’t have Chinese shareholders. We won’t have Chinese offtake partners. This product will be going either to the Middle East, East Europe, or to the US," said Barnes.

So according to Barnes, the iron ore that may be imported out of the Ivanhoe Atlantic/Liberia deal may not benefit the U.S. at all.

“We don’t have Chinese shareholders. We won’t have Chinese offtake partners. This product will be going either to the Middle East, East Europe, or to the US," said Barnes.

So, while President Trump continues delivering concrete US investment deals with established companies and major trading partners, bureaucrats at the State Dept  appears to be touting an unpermitted, undeveloped mining prospect on the other side of the world, Barnes statement to a mining audience earlier this year,  does not guaranteed the iron ore will be shipped to the States.

Barnes herself has in the past directly engaged and negotiated with the People's Republic of China (PRC), which falls under the governance of the CCP. Barnes looked to "strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Western Australia and China in the field of culture and creative industry well represented by film and television."

So, while Barnes emphatically declares that none of Ivanhoe Atlantic's shareholders are Chinese,  two of its directors, Kenneth Lau and Patrick Tsang, are both tied to the Hong Kong conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.

What is Chow Tai Fook, and what have they been up to?

According to a recent report by the Queensland government posted in the Australian Financial Review, Chow Tai Fook is accused of misleading the state's gaming regulators back in 2022 about its tie to Alvin Chau, an accused "criminal junket operator."

"Tsang, meanwhile, is a member of the 14th Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – an advisory body linked to China’s United Front forum, part of a loose organisation used by authorities in Beijing to grow the country’s influence internationally."

China's 'United Front'

In November 2023, the congressional Select Committee on the CCP, outlined how China is using its  "United Front" to influence and undermine U.S. national security, not to mention how it has helped the CCP's genocidal efforts against the Uyghur Muslims and other "Chinese ethnic minorities."

The "United Front" is an alliance of groups led by Chinese President Xi Jinping that come together to attack one common adversary or opponent. In other words, the "Front" works like a pod of Killer Whales or pack of Grey Wolves against a singled out target.

A "united front" is generally an alliance of groups working against a common enemy, but it has a specific meaning in the context of Chinese politics, where it refers to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) strategy to advance its interests through a network of individuals and organizations. This strategy involves a range of activities, from political influence campaigns to propaganda and intelligence operations, both inside and outside of China. While a united front is sometimes used in a broader sense to describe any alliance, in modern discussions, it most often refers to the CCP's "United Front Work".

“Through its united front work strategy, which Xi Jinping has called a “magic weapon”, the Chinese Communist Party uses every tool at its disposal, whether legal or illicit, to influence the American people and interfere in democratic societies. Our bipartisan memo on united front work will help the American people recognize and resist the CCP’s malign influence," said Rep. Mike Gallagher (R)

“An important, but little understood, aspect of the Chinese Communist Party’s misinformation, propaganda, and influence efforts both in the PRC and abroad is the CCP’s united front system. This background memo provides information about united front activities, and can be a potentially helpful guide in addressing and countering them," said Ranking Member Rep. Krisnamoorthi (D).

The U.S. is currently engaged in a trade war with China, but a deal could be close, as both President Trump and President Xi recently met to discuss trade.