A slogan born in Shanghai

In March, "Hands Off Asia!" appeared on X from a U.S.-registered network funded by tech millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai.

From Beijing to American streets

By August, the campaign reached Philadelphia and New York with rallies and closed-door meetings. One event on "insurgency" required masks for counter-surveillance.

Launched on Vietnam's anniversary

The campaign officially launched April 30 from Beijing, timed to the 51st anniversary of Saigon's fall. It targets U.S. bases across Asia.

“The U.S. military presence does not mean protection for any of the peoples in the region.”

Hundreds of groups involved

Newsweek identified scores of accounts and organizations connected to the same message. Many link back to Singham, who has funded key groups including Tricontinental.

The Colombo Declaration

A July conference in Sri Lanka produced a signed declaration: "The enemy is one and indivisible. So must our answer be. Hands off Asia!"

“The enemy is one and indivisible. So must our answer be. Hands off Asia!”

TikTok's unnatural boost

Israeli startup SpringAI found anti-American campaign content being served far more often than engagement explains. The amplification appears to come from inside TikTok.

Political warfare doctrine

The Chinese Communist Party has researched political warfare for decades, viewing it as the highest form: how to win without fighting.

America let its guard down

The U.S. dismantled most political warfare efforts after the Cold War ended in 1989. Analysts say America is now unequipped to answer this threat.

Singham's Shanghai connections

In Shanghai, Singham regularly meets with CCP ideologues and propagandists. He appeared to compare Western democracy to fascism in one publication.

“The real struggle was never between three systems but between two: socialism and capitalism.”

The DSA connection

The Chinese Communist Party has made efforts to find allies among the Democratic Socialists of America, which is fielding candidates and winning elections.

Massive money flows

Singham's networks contributed $591 million between 2017 and 2025 globally, spreading pro-China propaganda through five concentric rings of organizations.

Justice Department investigating

The DOJ is investigating if financial crimes are taking place. Congress has subpoenaed Tricontinental and two other groups in Singham's network.

A kernel of truth

The campaign exploits genuine local grievances about U.S. bases in Okinawa, South Korea and the Philippines. But China is never mentioned as a problem.

“It's the way they are amplified and manipulated, that's what it's all about.”

Philadelphia gets organized

Groups in Philadelphia held meetings on "insurgency" and ran campaigns against South Korean corporation Hanwha, exposing its "ties with the U.S. Empire."

Astronomical algorithmic bias

SpringAI found TikTok served campaign videos with bias of 9.5 standard deviations. That's like flipping a coin 100 times and getting virtually only heads.

Seven amplified narratives

The most promoted messages: U.S. bases are tripwires, the U.S. manufactures Asian threats, the South China Sea belongs to China, and U.S. propaganda wars on Asian minds.

Manipulation from inside

SpringAI's technology detected the manipulation was coming from inside the TikTok platform itself. An independent expert confirmed content was served "way more than normal."

“The algorithm serves this campaign content way more than expected, way more than is normal.”

Social media as weapon

The PLA has publicly used the term "social media warfare" since 2015. To the PLA, social media is a weapon employed to win confrontations.

Congressional warning

A bipartisan report found adversaries are exploiting America's open society. China is the key actor alongside Iran and Russia.

“Our nation's adversaries are actively exploiting our free and open society and are working in imaginative ways to achieve their strategic objectives.”

Time to push back

Experts say America needs to rebuild its political warfare capability. One analyst put it bluntly: "We are under no obligation to commit national suicide."

“We are under no obligation to commit national suicide.”