According to a story by the Daily Caller, she held those positions while serving several U.S. positions in the government.
By Catholics for Catholics
United Front-linked organizations and the Chinese government named Elaine Chao, the wife of Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, to various advisory and symbolic positions that coincided with her U.S. Cabinet service, according to a probe published Tuesday by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
According to the Daily Caller story, Chao, who wed Mr. McConnell in 1993, served as secretary of labor under President George W. Bush and as secretary of transportation during President Trump’s first term before quitting in January 2021. She worked on the board of EV charging company ChargePoint from 2021 until July 2026, and is now a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.
“Chao — whose Chinese name is Zhao Xiaolan — has also received at least four Chinese government positions since 2008, including within arms of a CCP influence and intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports, according to the Caller story. “Beijing uses the UFWD to steer foreign policy and “gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC).”
In addition, according to the Caller story, “Chao’s late sister, Angela Chao, and father, James S.C. Chao, founder of shipping firm Foremost Group, both also received Chinese government and UFWD arm positions, according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.”
Still, according to the Caller’s story, Patrick O’ Connor, spokesman for Chao and Foremost Group, refuted Chao, her sister or father had held such positions.
“She has never held a position with a foreign government or acted on behalf of one. We are not aware she has met with representatives from UFWD entities,” O’Connor said after being sent Chinese government and state media photos published between 2010 and 2026 showing Chao meeting with officials from the CCP and/or UFWD, according to the Caller story. “Such a suggestion disregards her nearly five decades of faithful service to the United States and is both unfounded and deeply insulting, hurtful and racist.”
According to the Caller story, the DCNF asked O’Connor why Chao believes it is “racist” to probe her links to the Chinese government.
“No one seems to care when most American business or political leaders hold meetings in China, so it’s suspicious when the Daily Caller makes insinuations about a former two-time cabinet secretary of Asian descent, especially based on photos, some of which are decades old,” O’Connor said, according to the Caller story. “The secretary is a proud American who has devoted most of her professional life to serving the American people. To question her patriotism is a double standard, at best — racist, at worst.”
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