Schumer Waves China’s Flag after Its National Anthem Blares at Manhattan Parade

S enate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer waved the People’s Republic of China flag, just moments after the organizers of a Lunar New Year event blasted China’s national anthem in the middle of Manhattan.

Schumer’s apparent willingness to wave the flag of a foreign authoritarian government calls attention to the strange nature of the New York political world’s engagements with community events that feature a pro-Beijing twist.

He and other top New York politicians appeared onstage at a rally, preceding an annual parade in Manhattan’s Chinatown, alongside Huang Ping, a hard-line Chinese ambassador who publicly denies Beijing’s human-rights abuses, and Wu Xiaoming, a senior consular official linked to China’s secret police station in New York.

In addition to Schumer, New York governor Kathy Hochul, NYC mayor Eric Adams, and several New York legislators and city council members sat in the parade grandstand for the opening ceremony.

Toward the end of the event, a singer performed the “Star-Spangled Banner,” followed by the “March of the Volunteers,” China’s national anthem.

At one point during the latter song, Schumer appeared to put his hand over his heart, before quickly removing it. Then, someone in the crowd attempted to hand Hochul — who waved China’s flag at last year’s event — an American and a Chinese flag. She appeared not to accept them. Instead, Schumer grabbed the two flags and vigorously waved them for a moment.

During the parade, Hochul also shook hands with Chen Heng, one of the leaders of the Fukien American Association who was also seated on the grandstand. Chen has led protests linked to the Chinese consulate, demonstrating against Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to New York last March and traveling to San Francisco in November to show support for General Secretary Xi Jinping’s visit to the city.

Representatives for Schumer and Hochul did not respond to National Review’s requests for comment.

Hundreds of millions of people across the world celebrate Lunar New Year, and there is increasing official recognition of it in the United States. Recently, New York state recognized the celebration as an official school holiday.

Remarks by Schumer, Hochul, and others at the event consisted of boilerplate praise of New York’s Chinese-American community and remarks about the importance of fighting anti-Asian racism. During his speech, Schumer called for more immigration from China: “I am proud to say that I am a fighter to get comprehensive immigration reform to allow many more Chinese to come to America.”

The event takes on a distinctly political flavor every year, with expressions of pro-Beijing sentiment. It is always dominated by  participants waving PRC flags, and officials from China’s consulate-general on Twelfth Avenue always attend.

The frequent appearances of New York politicians alongside Chinese officials carry a political message, signaling tacit friendship with the PRC government — or at least Huang touts the appearances as signs of U.S.–PRC comity.

Huang wrote on X that he was “delighted” to participate in the parade with Schumer, Hochul, Adams, Manhattan borough president Mark Levine, New York assembly member Grace Lee, “and many other American friends and Chinese compatriots.”

As China’s top diplomat in New York, Huang frequently espouses Beijing’s propaganda narratives denying the Chinese Communist Party’s atrocities against Uyghurs and Tibetans. He has also defended Beijing’s desire to annex Taiwan and praised the Chinese Communist Party as a “great party.”

Federal law enforcement has repeatedly linked the Chinese consulate-general in New York to multiple stalking and harassment plots orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party to silence its critics in America.

National Review has previously identified Wu as one of the senior consular officials whom federal prosecutors said visited the alleged Chinese-government-run police station that secretly operated in Lower Manhattan in 2022.

None of that has stopped Huang from maintaining friendly relations with Adams, Hochul, and other top officials.

Hochul marched with Huang during Sunday’s parade, just as she did the previous year. On the grandstand, she appeared to chat with Huang, who was placed right next to her. At one point, the Chinese diplomat helped the governor set off a firecracker.

Last August, top Hochul staffer Elaine Fan represented the governor at a function hosted by a CCP front group, appearing alongside Huang. In 2021, Hochul recorded a video to wish Huang a happy Lunar New Year. The diplomat shared it on Facebook and referred to her as “my old friend.”