A Chinese official who sparked controversy for praising the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and denying human rights abuses against the Uyghurs has made several appearances at high-profile institutions over the past year and recently showed up at a Columbia University symposium.
"My honor to speak at Int'l Education Symposium ‘Cross-Fertilization of Culture & Education for Common Good’, celebrating 100th anniversary of Int'l Institute of @TeachersCollege, @Columbia, with educators from China, US&beyond," Huang Ping, consul general of the People’s Republic of China in New York, recently posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"Hope to strengthen this strong historic connections!"
Over the last year, Huang has appeared at several prominent universities to meet with officials despite his past statements as well as rising concerns from the American public about China’s aggressive presence in the United States.
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In late November, Huang posted online that he had "fruitful discussions" with leaders at Princeton University.
A month earlier, Huang was in Pennsylvania meeting not only with officials at the University of Pennsylvania but also with Democrat lawmakers and the Chester County Economic Development Council.
Huang also met in November with top brass at Condé Nast, one of the largest media companies in the United States, with the Chinese government saying that the "current mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the United States has strong momentum, deep foundation and broad space."
Huang, who's been the consul general of China's New York Consulate since 2018, previously called the CCP a "great party" and has denied that China is targeting the Muslim Uyghur population in China.
"There are lots of lies here, fabricated by some people with their own political agenda," Huang said in an August 2021 interview, denying the existence of genocide and internment camps targeting Uyghurs. "As I said, there's no genocide, not a single evidence to prove that there's a genocide or something there. It's just a slandering."
In addition to praising the CCP, Huang has repeatedly promoted CCP talking points on X and amplified the agenda of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Huang met in April 2019 when she was the lieutenant governor to discuss cooperation between New York and China.
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A post on the website of the Chinese consulate showed a picture of them standing beside each other and smiling while holding a certificate that she presented to him for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In early 2021, he called her an "old friend" in a Facebook post, featuring a video of her, and has attended other events with her.
He also stood onstage beside New York City's Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, this month at the China Day Celebration Parade Festival in New York, according to a press release.
The office of the consul general of the People’s Republic of China did not respond to a request for comment.
Huang's office told Fox News Digital in October that the "recent visit to Pennsylvania is just a regular consular job. We visited high schools, universities and companies, had talks with state senators, entrepreneurs and scholars, to enhance sub-national cooperation and friendly communication between China and the U.S."
Fox News Digital has reached out to Columbia University and the Teachers College for comment.
Fox News Digital's Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.
