For more than a decade, former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, combatant commanders, Cabinet officials and members of Congress participated in a military dialogue organized with a Chinese group identified by congressional investigators as a front engaged in “intelligence collection” and “propaganda and perception management.” Some ended up on China’s payroll shortly after.
The Chinese Communist Party did not need to penetrate the Pentagon to gain access to America’s military leadership.
It built a private network around it.
For more than a decade, some of the most powerful retired officers in the United States participated in closed-door meetings with senior Chinese military leaders. The discussions covered Taiwan, the South China Sea, missile defense, cybersecurity and the future of relations between the two militaries.
The American participants included:
- Gen. Peter Pace, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Adm. William “Bill” Owens, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Gen. John Abizaid, former commander of U.S. Central Command
- Gen. Raymond Odierno, former Army Chief of Staff
- Adm. Jonathan Greenert, former Chief of Naval Operations
- Adm. Timothy Keating, former commander of U.S. Pacific Command
- Gen. Ronald Fogleman, former Air Force Chief of Staff
- Gen. Dennis Reimer, former Army Chief of Staff
- Adm. Joseph Prueher, former commander of U.S. Pacific Command
- Gen. John Keane, former Vice Chief of Staff of the Army
- Gen. Walter Sharp, former commander of U.S. Forces Korea
- Gen. Charles Jacoby, former commander of U.S. Northern Command
- Gen. Charles Wilhelm, former commander of U.S. Southern Command
The program was called the Sanya Initiative.
Its glossy brochures framed it as a peaceful exchange between retired American and Chinese generals. Photographs showed senior officers chatting in Hawaiian shirts, touring military institutions and sitting across from Chinese commanders in ornate meeting rooms.
But the initiative was not organized with an ordinary veterans’ association.
It was funded by the China-United States Exchange Foundation, or CUSEF, and conducted with the China Association for International Friendly Contact, or CAIFC.
Congressional investigators have described CAIFC as “a front organization” for the People’s Liberation Army’s former General Political Department.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission found that the group performed the dual roles of “intelligence collection” and “conducting propaganda and perception management campaigns.”
The commission specifically cited CAIFC’s work through the Sanya Initiative.
Put simply — America’s most senior former military leaders spent years collaborating through a program organized with a Chinese military front that U.S. government investigators linked to intelligence gathering and foreign influence operations.
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From Retired Generals To The State Department
The first Sanya Initiative gathering took place in China in 2008.
CUSEF’s annual report named the original American delegation:
- Bill Owens
- Ronald Fogleman
- Dennis Reimer
- Joseph Prueher
- Charles Wilhelm
- John Keane
Their Chinese counterparts included former senior PLA commanders such as Xiong Guangkai, Li Qianyuan, Yu Zhenwu, Pei Huailiang, Zhao Guojun and Zhu Wenquan.
The following year, the initiative moved beyond meetings among retired officers.
CUSEF brought the combined American and Chinese delegations through Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and New York.
According to the foundation’s own brochure, they met:
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen
- Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell
- Rep. Rick Larsen
- Rep. Mark Kirk
- Adm. Timothy Keating
- Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle
CUSEF published a photograph of the Chinese and American generals meeting Clinton in Washington.
Its report said the conversations ranged from nuclear proliferation and terrorism to “military educational exchange programs.”
This was no longer merely a discussion among retirees.
A program involving a Chinese military influence front had gained face-to-face access to the sitting secretary of state, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, members of Congress and senior officials responsible for U.S. policy in Asia. (Read more: NatalieWinters/Substack, 8/4/2026) (Archive)