A historic nine-story building overlooking the White House Complex has been purchased by a foundation controlled by a man with reported ties to multiple Chinese Communist Party security and influence organizations.
The century-old Securities Building on 15th Street in Washington, D.C., approximately 650 feet northeast of the White House grounds, was purchased on July 21, 2026, for $8.4 million by the Philip Qiu and Family Foundation, according to property filings reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The foundation’s namesake, Philip Qiu, also identified in Chinese records as Qiu Feili, has reportedly held positions connected to China’s public-security system and the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front apparatus.
And now his foundation owns a building within sight of America’s executive complex.
According to the Daily Caller investigation and its translations of Chinese government and university records, Qiu began his career as a detective with the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Team.
The Shanghai Public Security Bureau operates under China’s Ministry of Public Security, the powerful state-security organization responsible for policing, domestic intelligence and political control.
The report also connects Qiu to at least three organizations associated with the CCP’s United Front Work Department, including service on the executive committee of the Shanghai branch of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.
The bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission describes United Front work as an effort by CCP agencies and affiliates to co-opt or pressure people and organizations outside the Party into advancing Beijing’s interests. A 2026 commission brief explains that United Front relationships can also facilitate intelligence collection by China’s security services. Read the commission’s analysis here.
Qiu has also served as honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Immigration Department Staff Association, according to the Daily Caller, and reportedly helped organize events introducing Hong Kong students to Shanghai SWAT personnel.