EXCLUSIVE: America’s Top Retired Generals Participated In Secret Beijing Conference Backed By Chinese Spy Group

Some of America’s most senior former military and national-security officials quietly traveled to Beijing to participate in a closed-door “Strategic Security and Stability Dialogue” supported by the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), an organization repeatedly identified by U.S. analysts and members of Congress as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front influence apparatus.

The meeting was billed as a Track II dialogue, meaning unofficial and off the record. But Track II forums are not politically neutral. They are where Beijing cultivates elite Western figures who no longer hold office but still command credibility and converts their presence into political capital.

CUSEF’s role is central.

The foundation was created by former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, who also served as a vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a core United Front body. For years, CUSEF has sponsored U.S.–China dialogues, trips, and exchanges that critics say consistently advance Beijing-friendly narratives under the language of “mutual understanding.”

This strategy is not subtle. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping himself has described United Front work as “an important magic weapon for the success of the Party’s cause.” In other words, influence - not tanks or treaties - is how Beijing seeks to shape outcomes abroad.

That context matters when examining who showed up in Beijing.

Admiral Mike Mullen

The most consequential name on the participant list was Admiral Mike Mullen, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and once the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military.

From a United Front perspective, Mullen is the ideal validator. He no longer sets policy, but his stature remains intact. His participation in a CUSEF-supported forum allows Beijing to project an image of strategic parity — suggesting that even America’s former top military commander views engagement on CCP-curated terms as legitimate.

This is not about what Mullen said in the room. It’s about what his presence communicates. United Front work operates on symbolism and access. A retired four-star admiral in Beijing signals credibility to Chinese audiences, international partners, and wavering elites abroad.

Stephen E. Biegun

Stephen Biegun brings a different kind of value. A former Deputy Secretary of State, Biegun later moved into senior leadership at a major U.S. defense contractor while remaining embedded in the transatlantic policy and think-tank ecosystem.

Figures like Biegun are prized in United Front-aligned forums because they sit at the intersection of diplomacy, industry, and alliance politics. Beijing does not need their agreement. It needs their participation — which helps normalize CCP talking points about “risk management,” “strategic stability,” and U.S. restraint as reasonable elite consensus rather than adversarial messaging.

Hosting Biegun under a CUSEF umbrella allows Beijing to launder its framing through a respected American diplomatic voice.

Rose Gottemoeller

Rose Gottemoeller is often described as a neutral arms-control expert. From a United Front standpoint, that neutrality is the asset.

As a former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and NATO’s first female Deputy Secretary-General, Gottemoeller carries authority in debates over nuclear deterrence and escalation. CUSEF-supported dialogues give Beijing a venue to reframe its own rapid nuclear buildup as a shared “stability challenge,” rather than a unilateral expansion.

United Front influence does not require explicit advocacy. It relies on respected Western experts participating in CCP-adjacent spaces where Beijing’s assumptions are treated as legitimate starting points.

Admiral James O. Ellis Jr.

James Ellis previously commanded U.S. Strategic Command, overseeing America’s nuclear forces and deterrence posture. After leaving government, he served on the board of one of the nation’s largest defense contractors — a company whose business depends on missile defense, nuclear modernization, and space systems.

For Beijing, Ellis’s presence is uniquely valuable. A former STRATCOM commander participating in a Beijing “strategic stability” dialogue backed by CUSEF helps present the CCP as a responsible co-equal steward of global deterrence — even as it resists transparency and accelerates its arsenal.

This is prestige laundering in its purest form.