A senior Chinese Communist Party-linked intelligence official has purchased a historic building roughly 650 feet from the White House grounds, raising national security concerns among multiple intelligence experts.
The 100-year-old Securities Building on 15th Street was purchased July 21 for $8.4 million by the Philip Qiu and Family Foundation, according to filings cited by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The foundation’s namesake, Philip Qiu, whose Chinese name is Qiu Feili, has held numerous positions connected to Chinese intelligence and state security organizations, according to university records and translations of Chinese government announcements reviewed by the outlet.
Qiu did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“The CCP is like a kind, but firm parent,” Qiu said in 2021, according to a translated announcement from a Chinese intelligence arm. He said the party had guided China through hardship and toward “great national rejuvenation.”
Former CIA operations officer Bryan Dean Wright warned that a property so close to the White House could potentially be used for intelligence-gathering operations, including listening systems capable of collecting communications.
Wright also raised concerns about emerging threats involving drones and missiles, calling the property’s location particularly alarming.
Qiu reportedly began his government career as a detective with the Criminal Investigation Team in Shanghai. That organization operates within Shanghai’s Public Security Bureau, a local subordinate of China’s Ministry of Public Security.
University records also indicate Qiu received combat training. During a team-building exercise connected to a Shanghai Jiaotong University master’s program, Qiu reportedly served as a commander and recorded the exercise’s top individual sniper performance.
In more recent years, Qiu has maintained connections with China’s security apparatus while serving as honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Immigration Department Staff Association. He helped organize events in 2023 and 2024 introducing Hong Kong students to Shanghai SWAT teams.
Qiu has also held at least three positions involving organizations connected to the CCP’s United Front Work Department, whose operations have been described by the House Select Committee on the CCP as combining engagement, influence activities and intelligence operations.
His roles include serving on the executive committee of the Shanghai branch of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and as chairman of its Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation.
During a 2021 foundation meeting, Qiu said the organization would continue implementing Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s directives concerning overseas Chinese affairs. Qiu has also referred to the CCP as “our party” during foundation events.
China expert Gordon Chang argued that Qiu’s connections should alarm federal officials, saying Chinese citizens should not control properties capable of surveilling sensitive government installations.
Qiu’s family foundation is also headquartered at another historic property about half a mile north of the White House. That building is shared with entities controlled by Qiu, including the Chinese American Museum in Washington, D.C.
Qiu co-founded the museum in 2017 with Neil Chen, who has also held multiple Chinese government positions.
The museum says it is not funded, controlled or influenced by foreign governments. However, according to the report, the Chinese government has co-sponsored at least eight museum programs, including several supported by entities controlled by the United Front Work Department.
State Armor CEO Michael Lucci called the security concerns surrounding Qiu’s nearby properties “screamingly obvious” and urged government action, including forcing the sale of the commercial property and preventing similar purchases in the future.
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