We’ve been hearing for years about China buying American farmland and property near sensitive military installations. The latest Chinese encroachment is just as disturbing: a senior Chinese intelligence official with a background in training as a sniper in China’s special forces has bought a nine- or ten-story building a mere 650 feet northeast of the White House grounds.
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The Daily Caller has a great deal of information about the purchase and the purchaser:
A senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence official is the new owner of a historic building overlooking the White House Complex, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.
Located approximately 650 feet northeast of the White House grounds, the 100-year-old Securities Building on 15th Street was purchased on July 21, 2026 [sic] for $8.4 million by the Philip Qiu and Family Foundation, filings show. The building’s new owner, Philip Qiu, has held numerous positions within Chinese intelligence and state security arms, according to university records and DCNF translations of Chinese government announcements.
According to the same article, Qiu held multiple positions in the Chinese government, beginning as a police investigator and moving up from there. He had special forces training and was ranked as an expert sniper. He has consistently worked within China’s security apparatus over the years. The list of Qiu’s roles in China’s government is long, really long. To grasp how connected he is, check out everything The Daily Caller has to say.
The risks of having someone deeply connected to our major geopolitical enemy occupying a building 650 feet from the White House complex are real:
“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,” Bryan Dean Wright, former CIA operations officer, told the DCNF. “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.”
“But what’s especially alarming are emerging ops that properties like this allow — like hidden drone swarms or shipping container missiles,” said Wright, who hosts The Wright Report podcast. “This kind of property is where the next 9/11 will come from. It’s coming.”
The question is how this could happen and what can be done to reverse the damage.
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As to how it happened, I can think of three reasons:
- The government wasn’t paying attention to Chinese money flowing into D.C.
- The government believes that it can spy on China, rather than vice versa (a dubious proposition).
- Qiu is an American asset (an equally dubious proposition, because China will see that he has the world’s shortest lifespan).
As to what can be done…well, that’s not so clear. Congress cannot pass a bill specifically targeting Qiu. That kind of law is a Bill of Attainder and is banned under the Constitution.
Gordon Chang recommends proactive legislation banning China from purchasing property in sensitive areas:
“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,” Chang said. “No ifs, ands, or buts.”
That’s a good idea, although I wonder whether the currently constituted Congress can pass it. The Hasan Piker-allied Democrats love China. Also, with so many Marxists and Trump haters in the government (a Venn diagram would include every Democrat and many NeverTrump Republicans), a different tactic might be a procedural one: Seize the property via eminent domain. Doing so would force Qiu to sell it to the American government.
To do that, the federal government must identify a “public use” for the property. Typically, eminent domain has been used for roads, railroads, federal buildings, etc. That’s not going to fly on crowded 15th Street NW in D.C.
However, one ground for requiring an owner to sell his property (at fair market value) to the federal government is that the property has unique historical significance. In this case, the 100-year-old Securities Building is a genuinely historic structure that is part of D.C.’s Financial Historic District. While nothing extraordinary happened there, ChatGPT says it’s something of an architectural gem.
While most of the great financial buildings on 15th Street are Beaux-Arts, Classical Revival, or Renaissance Revival. The Securities Building instead employs a Jacobethan/Tudor vocabulary, which makes it stand out from its much more classically designed neighbors. Images show that it’s an exquisite example of the eccentricities of the Art Deco movement, which was fascinated with medieval and Jacobean stylings. And of course, it’s already a designated historical building.
While it’s a hard case to make, the building’s proximity to the White House, along with the owner’s ties to the CCP, means that it may still be a worthwhile tactic to try. And of course, Congress really needs to act because, no matter how much many in the Capitol hate Trump, most of the sane ones would surely agree that having your geopolitical enemy immediately adjacent to the White House is a bad idea.
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Image created using AI.