Codepink's hard-left activists dismiss claims they're secretly funded by Chinese Communist Party, but then refuse to condemn the mass detention of Uyghurs and talk up China's 'freedom'
- DailyMail.com spoke with Codepink activists, who skirted criticism of China
- Anti-war progressive group has done an about-face on China since its founder married a mega-wealthy benefactor with ties to the CCP
- READ MORE: House Republicans launch investigation into Codepink China ties
Members of the anti-war feminist group Codepink have firmly rejected claims they secretly take money from Beijing — but then refused to condemn the detention of Uyghurs and other human rights abuses in China.
House Republicans this week launched a probe into the anti-war progressive group, which calls for Pentagon spending cuts to tackle climate change, pointing to the group's ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
DailyMail.com spoke to senior Codepink activists about the allegations.
They fervently rejected all claims that they take cash from Beijing, but also appeared unwilling to say anything critical about China's widely-reported abysmal track record on human rights.
Code Pink cofounder Medea Benjamin, seen last month interrupting testimony from Sec. Antony Blinken, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, says claims of CCP influence are 'insane'
The group's co-founder, Medea Benjamin, a veteran protestor who has heckled politicians from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, said the CCP allegations were 'nonsense' and 'insane.'
Another Codepink stalwart, Cynthia Papermaster, said they were 'libelous, utter garbage.'
West Coast Codepink stalwart Cynthia Papermaster praises the 'freedom' in China
'We are a feminist anti-militarism and peace activist group,' she told DailyMail.com.
But when pressed on human rights issues that Codepink members once discussed frankly, Papermaster went soft on Beijing.
The group in the past vehemently bashed China's treatment of its mostly-Muslim Uyghur minority.
When asked, Papermaster said she could not 'recall a Codepink campaign or stance on the Uyghurs.'
'Our campaign is "China is Not Our Enemy",' she said.
DailyMail.com pressed Papermaster on the mass detention of some one million Uyghurs in the northwestern province of Xinjiang, which involves forced sterilizations and other abuses.
'I don't feel qualified to comment on that on behalf of Codepink,' she said.
We then asked whether Codepink was concerned more broadly about other abuses in China, from repression to censorship and a lack of political freedoms in the nation of 1.4 billion.
'I think that's controversial,' Papermaster said.
Papermaster's comments indicate an unusually soft attitude to China for a left-wing campaign group.
They come after House Republicans this week released a letter addressed to Codepink co-founder Jodie Evans, raising concerns over her husband Neville Roy Singham's ties to the CCP.
Jodie Evans, left, pictured with husband Neville Singham, right
Singham, a tech entrepreneur and self-proclaimed socialist and mega-wealthy benefactor of 'far-left causes,' is based in Shanghai, China.
The letter, signed by 10 GOP members of the Natural Resources Committee, said they are 'deeply concerned' with Codepink's ties to the CCP, and probing whether it has illegally failed to register as a foreign agent.
They requested all communications between Codepink, Singham and the CCP between 2017 and today, as well as any documents related to transactions between Codepink and any foreign entity and proof of whether or not Codepink registered as a foreign agent.
A damning New York Times report in August revealed Singham 'works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide.'
The report tracked hundreds of millions of dollars to groups that 'mix progressive advocacy with Chinese government talking points.'
Codepink, meanwhile, has shifted its stance on China since Evans and Singham married in 2017.
The group once criticized China's human rights record and treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority.
It now has a campaign listed entitled 'China is Not our Enemy.'
'Mounting hostilities with China are stopping us from addressing existential challenges like the climate crisis.'
Code Pink protesters raise their painted hands in protest against Israel
Evans pictured in 2015 protesting China, before doing an about-face on the CCP
Evans, after she married Singham, has adopted a much more pro-China stance
Code Pink frequently disrupts congressional proceedings
Evans, 68, managed the presidential campaign of California Gov. Jerry Brown in 1992 and is heavily involved in Democratic circles. After the Iraq War began, she rededicated herself to activism, forming Codepink with Benjamin.
She soon became known for donning hot pink outfits and heading to Capitol Hill for disruptive demonstrations that often ended in arrest.
And until a handful of years ago, she criticized China without hesitation.
'We demand China stop brutal repression of their women's human rights defenders,' she posted to Twitter in 2015.
But since her marriage in 2017, around a quarter of Code Pink's donations, more than $1.7 million, have come from Singham's groups.
Evans is now an ardent defender of China.
Evans at a ceasefire protest
Jodie Evans at a pro-Palestine rally in Los Angeles, California
Jodie and Neville Singham at their Bob Marley-themed wedding in Jamaica in 2017. Guests included Socialist ice cream behemoth Ben Cohen, of Ben & Jerry's
The couple are pictured at a rally
Singham is the son of leftist Sri Lankan academic Archibald Singham. When he was 17, he joined the League of Revolutionary Black Workers
Singham, who lives in Shanghai, shares an office there with a Chinese media company called Maku Group, which is dedicated to producing foreign propaganda
Singham made his money though his software consulting company, Thoughtworks, which he launched in 1993 in Chicago.
He sold it to private equity firm Apax Partners for $785 million.
Singham shares an office in Shanghai with a Chinese media company called Maku Group, which is dedicated to producing foreign propaganda.
Singham claims he does not work with the Chinese government, but a network he owns is co-producing a YouTube show with China's propaganda department and working with a Chinese university to 'spread China's voice throughout the world.'
Singham's groups work on behalf of Chinese interests by producing YouTube videos that have wracked up millions of views, meeting with congressional aides, running candidates in African elections and organizing protests.
None of Singham's nonprofits have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as is required for groups that are peddling ideas on behalf of a foreign government.
A Code Pink protester interrupts a Congressional hearing. At first, noone told him his sign was upside down.
'I shouldn't have told him his sign was upside-down' remarked the committee's Chairman Mike Gallagher (pictured), a Wisconsin Republican, getting the hearing back underway once security removed the two anti-war activists
