Former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair repeatedly participated in and sometimes led U.S.-China dialogues involving organizations linked by American sources to Chinese intelligence, military, propaganda, and political influence operations. The record raises questions about how Beijing cultivates prominent Americans—and the credibility their participation can lend to Chinese institutions.

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From Natalie Winters on Substack:

The China Association for International Friendly Contact, or CAIFC, published its account of Blair’s visit in December 2017.

He led American experts to Beijing and Nanjing for a maritime-security dialogue co-organized by CAIFC’s Center for Peace and Development Studies, the Shanghai Association for International Friendly Contact, Nanjing University’s South China Sea research center and Seton Hall University.

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The following year, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s staff report identified CAIFC as a front for the People’s Liberation Army’s former General Political Department.

Blair served as President Barack Obama’s director of national intelligence, overseeing the nation’s intelligence agencies. Yet his involvement with Chinese organizations continued for years after leaving government. In 2011, he led a delegation to China hosted by the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), which a congressional commission later discussed in connection with influence operations. In 2024, the House Select Committee on the CCP described CUSEF as a “united front-linked organization that advances Chinese Communist Party interests.”

Other engagements brought Blair into contact with organizations tied to China’s intelligence apparatus. He participated in a 2014 closed-door strategic-security dialogue that included a senior adviser to the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, or CICIR. An American intelligence assessment cited by the Federation of American Scientists described CICIR as affiliated with China’s top intelligence agency. Blair later returned to the program and led the American delegation in 2025.

Blair also led the American side of a technology dialogue whose Chinese participants included retired PLA Major General Hao Yeli. The dialogue at various points included organizations and individuals connected to the CCP’s propaganda apparatus and Chinese technology companies. Notably, a Hikvision executive continued participating after the Commerce Department placed the surveillance company on its Entity List in 2019 over its alleged role in repression and surveillance in Xinjiang.

Those dialogues eventually produced policy recommendations with significant implications for U.S. national security. Agreements advocated easing certain restrictions on semiconductor exports, avoiding national-security-based export restrictions on AI chips within proposed areas of cooperation, and allowing Chinese batteries to be used for American electricity storage and AI data centers. A 2025 agreement also proposed Chinese industrial-robotics pilot programs in U.S. factories. The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations says consensus documents from the dialogues are shared with relevant offices and agencies in both governments, although the available documents do not establish whether U.S. officials adopted the recommendations.

Blair’s lengthy involvement highlights a broader concern about the CCP’s efforts to cultivate influential Americans. A congressional commission report described the strategy as seeking to “cultivate enough people in the right places” to influence debate. Chinese organizations have pursued exchanges with governors, legislators, journalists, business leaders, academics, and other prominent Americans.

For intercessors, this story is a reminder that America faces threats that do not always look like traditional espionage or military aggression. Influence can operate through relationships, prestigious institutions, and seemingly cooperative exchanges. Let’s pray for discernment among America’s current and former leaders, for hidden foreign influence operations to be exposed, and for policymakers to put America’s security ahead of pressure from the Chinese Communist Party.

Share your prayers for discernment and protection from foreign influence in the comments.

(Excerpt from Natalie Winters on Substack)