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The Party for Socialism and Liberation is rapidly opening activist hubs nationwide while drawing scrutiny over its ties to a broader network linked to Shanghai-based financier Neville Singham and pro-CCP messaging.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A socialist activist organization connected to a network of groups funded by a Shanghai-based businessman with ties to Chinese Communist Party-aligned causes is establishing “Liberation Centers” across communities throughout the United States, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of public records, social media posts, and local reporting.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation, commonly known as PSL, has opened or announced at least 28 organizing spaces since 2021. The facilities, branded as “Liberation Centers,” are being used as gathering points for political organizing, workshops, protest planning, and recruitment efforts tied to a range of left-wing causes.
The organization has also been connected to demonstrations opposing immigration enforcement, American foreign policy decisions, and police activity, including actions highlighted in reports involving anti-ICE organizing, street protests, Iran-related activism, anti-Israel demonstrations, and rallies targeting law enforcement and ICE operations.
The growth of the centers comes as attention has intensified around Neville Roy Singham, a former U.S. technology executive now based in Shanghai. Reporting by both the DCNF and The New York Times detailed how Singham directed millions of dollars into organizations tied to activist movements that share leadership or operational overlap with PSL affiliates.
PSL messaging has repeatedly mirrored positions favorable to the Chinese Communist Party. Archived material published by the group has praised Mao Zedong for leading China’s communist revolution and has also challenged historical accounts of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The organization did not respond to requests for comment cited in the DCNF report.
According to the website for the group’s Atlanta Liberation Center, the centers are intended to build a “movement against racism, poverty and war.” Critics, however, argue the sites function as long-term infrastructure for ideological organizing.
Stu Smith, an investigative analyst with the Manhattan Institute who studies activist networks, told the DCNF the centers are designed to turn local grievances into sustained political operations.
“Their model is simple; find a local grievance, radicalize it, and turn it into movement infrastructure,” Smith said. “These centers are often staffed by semi-local organizers who cut their teeth elsewhere, then parachute into new communities.”
Smith also alleged the group recruits heavily among younger activists and students.
“They reach out to teenagers, encourage school disruptions and walkouts, and help create mini-PSL pipelines disguised as harmless ‘student unions,’” Smith told the outlet.
One example cited in the report involved a February social media post from PSL organizers in Columbus, Ohio, encouraging students and parents to coordinate school walkouts opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Join the PSL at the Columbus Liberation Center this Sunday for a student & parent organizing meeting to build connection between highschool organizers, discuss strategies for building the movement, and plan together on our next steps!” the post stated.
Additional online material tied to PSL centers promoted topics including “Trans Liberation”, displays honoring Che Guevara, and workshops focused on “Prison Abolition — Marxist Perspective”.
Smith warned that communities overlooking the expansion of the centers may underestimate their organizational goals.
“If you want a foreign-maligned influence operation in your backyard, targeting your community and your children, then ignore the Liberation Centers,” he said.
PSL has continued expanding its footprint in 2026. Online posts show the organization preparing launches for new centers in Houston and Washington, D.C., while activists have also been raising money for a future Louisville location.
The planned Washington center outlines policy demands including a 90% reduction in the Metropolitan Police Department budget, guaranteed income programs, cashless bail policies, and expanded access to gender-transition treatments for minors, according to the proposed People’s Program for D.C..
Some locations operate under alternate branding while maintaining similar organizing functions. These include a PSL-connected café in Durham, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania’s Lancaster People’s Center.
The centers have appeared in a broad mix of political environments, ranging from Portland, Oregon to West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle and surrounding communities. Pennsylvania currently hosts the largest concentration, with centers or affiliated facilities in Lancaster, Pittsburgh, Reading, Phoenixville, Philadelphia, York, and West Chester.
Because PSL is not required to publicly disclose its donors, the group’s financial structure remains largely opaque. Several chapters and organizing spaces state they rely on volunteer staffing and crowdfunding campaigns. The organization’s Albuquerque center describes itself as a fiscal sponsor for local activist projects.
Smith argued that PSL operates as part of a broader coalition of interconnected organizations linked through common ideological and financial support systems.
“It is not just one group or one campaign,” Smith said regarding PSL and other Singham-backed operations. “It is an ecosystem of overlapping organizations, causes, and front-facing projects that all reinforce each other locally.”
Singham previously led an Illinois-based software company before selling the business in 2017 for approximately $785 million. Investigations by The Daily Beast and other outlets documented his participation in events involving Chinese officials and state-linked propaganda initiatives.
The same report noted Singham also served as an adviser to Huawei, the telecommunications giant whose rise was aided by Chinese state support.
Smith said his own community now hosts a PSL center despite not being a major political hotspot.
“I don’t live in some massive activist hub, either,” Smith said. “My guess is we ended up with one because the local radicals got especially rowdy during the [2020 Black Lives Matter] ‘Summer of Love,’ and PSL saw an opportunity to plant a flag.”
In a recent Instagram statement, PSL’s national organization encouraged supporters to direct anger over “capitalism, racism, war” into organized political activism.
“It’s not enough to be angry – we must be organized!” the group declared.
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