A Breitbart News Foundation review of corporate records has uncovered even closer ties between the Shanghai-based consulting firm founded by tech-billionaire Neville Roy Singham and a Chinese media firm that the New York Times has identified as specializing in propaganda for the Chinese...
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Inside the Shanghai Consultancy at the Center of Neville Roy Singham’s Tangled Web
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A Breitbart News Foundation (BNF) review of corporate records has uncovered even closer than previously reported ties between Star Stream, the Shanghai-based consulting firm founded by tech-billionaire turned left-wing agitator Neville Roy Singham, and Maku, a Chinese media firm that the
New York Times has
identified as specializing in propaganda for the Chinese communist regime.
For U.S. lawmakers, including
then-Senator Marco Rubio and
Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), who have called for Singham to be investigated as a possible Chinese foreign agent, establishing any financial relationship between Star Stream and Maku might hold some clues for further investigative action.
As
noted in our prior BNF report on Singham, the tech mogul made his fortune through Thoughtworks, the software consulting company that he founded in 1993 and sold (allegedly) in 2017, the same year that he married Code Pink co-founder and radical left activist Jodie Evans.
The couple share a passion for radical political action, which Singham’s wealth has helped fund. In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Joel Finkelstein, the co-founder of the Network Contagion Research Institute, estimated that Singham has given over $100 million to various far-left organizations, including groups behind the current anti-ICE protests.
In 2019, Singham settled in Shanghai and founded a consulting firm whose official name in Mandarin is 上海洛维星商务咨询有限公司. That name in Mandarin can be translated into English in multiple ways, making tracking the firm’s online footprint challenging. The most common English translation of the company’s name is “Star Stream Consulting,” but English-language translation software sometimes renders the company’s name as ‘Shanghai Luoweixing” or “Shanghai Lovistar.”
Official Chinese corporate records
confirm that Singham launched Star Stream in 2019.
Screen image of the corporate records for Star Stream Consulting, which note that the company was founded in 2019.
BNF’s research can now provide a fuller picture of just how deep the connections are between Singham’s Star Stream and Maku Cultural Communications (or Maku Group), another Shanghai-based media firm that specializes in producing Chinese Communist Party propaganda content intended for foreign audiences.
Maku was
launched in September 2020, only one year after Singham launched Star Stream. Maku’s stated
goal is to “tell China’s story well” – a phrase which,
according to the New York Times, is commonly used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to describe foreign propaganda efforts. The company describes its work as
creating “text, audio, and video content” for “global mass media networks and think tanks” with
the aim to “showcase China’s social life, cultural values, development philosophies, and construction methods, thereby enhancing global understanding of China,” largely by leveraging digital media.
Like Maku, Star Stream’s website also uses buzz words about sharing “China’s story” that, per the
New York Times, commonly
signifies CCP propaganda work. The company’s website
explains that Singham “actively and enthusiastically shares China’s story with international friends, helping them better understand China and engage in various forms of cooperation with China.” Star Stream’s recruiting materials
describe its work in policy research and journalism as aimed at “socially beneficial” projects. Star Steam is not shy about associating itself with the CCP. In 2021, for example, the firm’s employees attended an event honoring the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary, where staff
performed an instrumental rendition of the anthem “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China.”
That Star Stream and Maku share the same goals is perhaps not surprising considering the significant cross-over between the two companies’ personnel. Chinese corporate records show that Singham’s Star Stream shares key staff with Maku.
Take, for example, Jie Xiong, an
executive from Singham’s former company, Thoughtworks. Jie Xiong’s name, which often appears as “Bear Festival” in English translation software, is
listed on Star Stream’s corporate records as the company’s “Supervisor.” He was also
identified in a press release as Maku’s co-founder and CEO. Furthermore, both Jie Xiong and Zhou Yihua, who was
identified in a press release as Star Stream’s internal Communist Party chair, are
listed as Maku shareholders in Chinese corporate records. Zhou Yihua is also
listed in corporate records as Maku’s executive director.
Screen image of Chinese corporate records for Star Stream Consulting with Jie Xiong’s name highlighted. Note: Jie Xiong’s name appears as “Bear Festival” in English translation.
Screen image of Chinese corporate records for Maku with Jie Xiong and Zhou Yihua’s names highlighted. Note: Jie Xiong’s name appears as “Bear Festival” in English translation.
