A man identified by investigators as a senior Chinese Communist Party intelligence official just spent $8.4 million on a century-old building steps from the White House, and national security experts say the purchase demands an immediate federal response.
Philip Qiu, also known by his Chinese name Qiu Feili, purchased the Securities Building on 15th Street NW in Washington, D.C., on July 21 through the Philip Qiu and Family Foundation. The building sits roughly 650 feet northeast of the White House grounds. A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation published on August 13 identified Qiu as a former detective in the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, China's equivalent of the FBI, and a current officeholder in at least three arms of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, the CCP's influence and intelligence apparatus.
The purchase price, confirmed through District of Columbia Recorder of Deeds filings, was $8.4 million. Qiu did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF. No federal agency has publicly announced an investigation or review of the transaction.
Qiu's background is not a matter of speculation. A 2024 Instagram post from the University of New Haven described him as having begun with a "career as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Team in Shanghai", a unit of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, which operates under China's Ministry of Public Security. Bryan Dean Wright, a former CIA operations officer, told the DCNF that the Ministry of Public Security functions as "a mash-up of DHS and FBI" and serves as "the overt, visible, heavy hand of the state and party."
Qiu enrolled in a master's program at Shanghai Jiaotong University in October 2011. A translated SJTU announcement described a combat training exercise at the program's outset in striking terms:
"Classmate Qiu Feili, who has undergone special forces training, served as a commander in the Red-Blue Battle, and not only directed his troops to successfully capture enemy positions, but also killed one-third of the opposing forces with 42 shots, achieving the best individual sniper record."
That language, "has undergone special forces training", indicates Qiu had received military or paramilitary instruction before he ever set foot at SJTU. The DCNF investigation did not determine when or where that prior training occurred.
By May 2017, Qiu had joined the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation as a director. SOCF is described in Chinese government records as the "only charity in the Shanghai UFWD system." He became its chairman in May 2021. The United Front Work Department is no ordinary bureaucracy. The House Select Committee on the CCP has characterized its operations as a "blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations" designed to steer foreign policy and gain access to advanced foreign technology.
Qiu also sits on the executive committee of the Shanghai branch of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, another UFWD-controlled organization, and serves as honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Immigration Department Staff Association. In 2023 and 2024, he organized events introducing Hong Kong students to the Shanghai SWAT team.
Translated Chinese government announcements, obtained and published by the DCNF, show Qiu speaking in terms that go well beyond polite diplomatic boilerplate. In a 2021 announcement from what the DCNF described as a Chinese intel arm, Qiu said:
"The CCP is like a kind, but firm parent. It has guided our people out of hardship, led China's sons and daughters to build a new country and is steering us toward great national rejuvenation."
At a 2021 SOCF foundation meeting, Qiu pledged that the organization would "continue to execute General Secretary Xi Jinping's directive to 'comprehensively implement the party's overseas Chinese affairs policy, unite the hearts of overseas Chinese and serve overall interests.'" He added that SOCF would "strive to build SOCF into a charity with social influence to contribute the strength of the overseas Chinese community toward realizing the shared Chinese Dream."
Those are not the words of an independent philanthropist. They are the words of a party operative describing his mission in the language of CCP central directives.
Qiu also represented SOCF's party branch during Shanghai ACFROC party meetings. Under CCP rules, a "party branch" is the smallest grassroots CCP organization, required of any Chinese institution containing three or more party members.
Former CIA officer Wright laid out the operational risks in blunt terms. He told the DCNF that a property this close to the executive compound opens the door to both traditional and next-generation intelligence collection:
"This property allows access for big splashy intel ops as well as for more classic ops, like a listening post or Stingray-like systems to collect phone calls, text messages, and digital exhaust. That's all great for collecting targeting information to later 'bump' or recruit targets out in the world, who otherwise work inside a key U.S. government building."
A Stingray is a device that mimics a cell tower to intercept nearby phone communications. Wright did not stop at electronic surveillance. He warned of physical threats as well:
"But what's especially alarming are emerging ops that properties like this allow, like hidden drone swarms or shipping container missiles. This kind of property is where the next 9/11 will come from. It's coming."
Wright also explained that the lines between Chinese intelligence agencies are functionally meaningless. He described the Ministry of State Security, China's premier civilian spy agency, as "roughly the CIA, with a dash of the FBI," and said the UFWD "provides cover for MSS operations 'sort of like what the State Department allegedly does for the CIA abroad when a spy pretends to be a diplomat.'" His bottom line: "There is no real line between intel and non-intel agencies or officers in China. Anybody can be compelled for any role at any time, you don't say no to President Xi."
Michael Lucci, founder and CEO of State Armor, a national security-focused policy and advocacy organization, drew a direct line between Qiu's purchase and a broader pattern. He told the DCNF:
"CCP intelligence agents have been caught buying property around military installations and critical infrastructure where they commit espionage in preparation of sabotage. Now, even more of our most important national assets are being put at risk by the proximity of a man who has multiple CCP intelligence and security affiliations just 200 meters from executive facilities that should be completely off limits from adversary actors. We need government action to force the sale of the commercial property controlled by the CCP associate and a ban on this happening in the future."
Author and China expert Gordon Chang was equally direct:
"No Chinese citizen should be permitted to own, lease, or occupy any real estate that gives him or her the ability to surveil any sensitive federal installation. No ifs, ands, or buts."
The Securities Building is not Qiu's first property near the White House. The Philip Qiu and Family Foundation already operates out of a historic building half a mile north of the executive compound. That property serves as headquarters for six other entities Qiu controls, including the Chinese American Museum in Washington, D.C.
Qiu co-founded CAMDC in 2017 alongside Chen Xiaoping, also known as Neil Chen. Chen previously served as chairman of SOCF and held positions with Shanghai branches of both ACFROC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has stated that CPPCC delegates "serve as proxies for CCP interests."
CAMDC's website states that "the museum and its programs are not funded, controlled, or influenced by any foreign government." But the DCNF found that the Chinese government co-sponsored at least eight CAMDC programs, four of which involved UFWD-controlled religious entities. Since 2023, CAMDC has co-sponsored three Buddhist events in Washington with Longhua Temple, a Shanghai temple overseen by the UFWD's Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee. One of those events took place at the Library of Congress.
Longhua Temple's abbot, Zhao Cheng, headlined all three events. Zhao also serves as a standing committee member of Shanghai's CPPCC and as deputy director of the UFWD's municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee.
Neither CAMDC nor Chen responded to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF.
SOCF's secretary general has served as a director of the Shanghai International Culture Association. Former Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Alex Joske identified SICA as a front for China's Ministry of State Security, the country's premier civilian spy agency. That places Qiu's own organization one personnel link from a confirmed MSS front.
As of the DCNF's publication date, no federal agency has publicly acknowledged the purchase or announced a review. It remains unknown whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the FBI, or the Department of Justice has been notified. The current or planned use of the Securities Building after the sale has not been disclosed. Whether Qiu or any of his entities have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act is also unclear.
What is clear is the trail. A man who began his career in Chinese law enforcement, underwent special forces training, held at least four Chinese government positions across three UFWD arms, publicly pledged to execute Xi Jinping's directives, and organized events introducing students to Shanghai's SWAT team now owns a building close enough to the White House to see its roof.
Washington has spent years talking about the threat of CCP influence operations on American soil. A building 650 feet from the Oval Office, bought by a man who calls the Communist Party his parent, is not a theoretical risk. It is an address.
