Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony featured Chinese official who called genocide of Uyghur Muslims 'lies'

A Chinese government official who claimed reports of human rights violations in China were "lies" and praised the Communist Party of China (CPC) as a "great party" was featured at two high-profile events earlier this week in New York City, where he used his platform to promote the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics and a "shared future" between China and the United States.

Huang Ping, who has been the consul general of China’s New York Consulate since 2018, posted two videos of himself on Twitter participating in Nasdaq's virtual bell-ringing ceremony and the lighting of the Empire State Building for the start of the Lunar New Year.

"It is my great pleasure to attend Nasdaq's bell ringing ceremony for the fourth time to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year of the tiger," Huang said. "2021 was a year full of challenges. Despite the protracted and resilient pandemic, we have seen the positive trend of economic recovery. Nasdaq Composite index hit record high, China's GDP grow by 8.1 percent, the largest jump since 2011." 

After hyping up China's economy and calling for China and the United States to work together, Huang promoted the Beijing Winter Olympics, saying, "The Beijing Winter Olympics are open in just five days. China is ready to deliver a streamlined, safe, and splendid Olympic Games to the world."

Nasdaq, which lists many of America’s largest tech companies, has come under scrutiny from U.S. officials, along with other major exchanges, for its continued listing of Chinese companies over concerns about transparency and threats to U.S. national security.  

Nasdaq's Twitter account, which has over 700,000 followers, posted a few photos of the digital billboards in New York City, which included one with Huang and another billboard that said, "Nasdaq welcomes Chinese Consulate in New York."

Bob McCooey, who serves as a vice chairman at Nasdaq, quote tweeted Huang and said, "It is always such a great honor for me to be able to host [Huang Ping] each year at the beginning of the #LunarNewYear." 

Chinese state-run media outlets were quick to exploit Huang's invitation to speak at the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony and promoted it to millions of followers on Twitter. China Daily, a CPC-controlled media outlet tweeted three photos of the digital billboards and said, "Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping said #China will continue to be the opportunity for #US investors in the Year of the Tiger." The Global Times, another CPC-controlled English language newspaper, promoted Huang's remarks about the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, which start later this week.

Fox News Digital reported last month that Huang appeared on a podcast in August 2021, during which he made several controversial remarks, including praise of the CPC as a "great party" and repeatedly denying the existence of a genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, despite the State Department and Holocaust Museum saying China is committing genocide.

"There are lots of lies here fabricated by some people with their own political agenda," Huang said, denying the existence of genocide and internment camps. "As I said, there’s no genocide, not single evidence to prove that there’s a genocide or something there. It’s just a slandering." 

In addition to attending the bell-ringing ceremony Monday, Huang was invited to a virtual lighting of the Empire State Building over the weekend, where he was introduced by Tony Malkin, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Empire State Realty Trust. 

Malkin said the trust partners with Huang "each year" to light up the Empire State Building for the start of the Lunar New Year and that he was "honored" to welcome Huang to the lighting. He also promoted the upcoming Olympics in Beijing.

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After Malkin's introduction, Huang spoke and called Malkin his "old friend" and used similar talking points from his remarks for the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony. He then promoted the Beijing Olympics and told viewers to "stay tuned and work together for a shared future."

Fox News Digital previously reached out to the Chinese consulate about Huang's denial of a genocide and concentration camps in Xinjiang, but the consulate echoed Huang's talking points and said the "Xinjiang-related issue is not about human rights" and that a "lie told a thousand times is nothing but still a lie."

FOX Business reached out to Malkin and Nasdaq, but did not receive a response.