In July, Philip Qiu, who is listed in Chinese government records as Qiu Feili, finalized the purchase of the century-old Securities Building located at 729 15th Street NW in Washington, D.C. This information is based on property filings reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Here’s what’s interesting: Qiu is not your typical real estate investor. His career began as a detective with Shanghai's Criminal Investigation Team, a local division of China's Ministry of Public Security. Former CIA operations officer Bryan Dean Wright has described this team as a combination of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In October 2011, Qiu enrolled in a master's program at Shanghai Jiaotong University, where students participated in military exercises while carrying rifles and wearing camouflage fatigues.

In a university announcement reported by DCNF, it was noted that Qiu "served as a commander in the Red-Blue Battle" and, according to another section of the same document, "achieved the highest individual sniper record" with 42 successful shots.

He has held at least three positions within the United Front Work Department, which is an organization of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The House Select Committee on China describes this department as engaging in a combination of diplomatic outreach, influence activities, and intelligence operations aimed at shaping foreign policy and acquiring advanced technology.

His highest-attained position is chairman of the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation, which Chinese government records describe as the only charity inside the Shanghai UFWD system--where he has referred to the CCP as "our party" and organized events in its name.

Qiu also served as the honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Immigration Department Staff Association, where he organized introductions between Hong Kong students and Shanghai SWAT personnel as recently as 2024.

Allowing this makes no sense at all. The average engagement distance for military snipers typically ranges from 984 to 1,969 feet when using standard medium-caliber rifles. In contrast, police or law enforcement sniper engagements occur much closer, with most shots taking place within 75 to 100 yards (or 225 to 300 feet) due to the constraints of tight urban environments. So how is this person allowed to buy a building 650 feet from the White House?

Even if you discount the physical attack angle, Qiu is a trained intelligence operative who gains a major advantage by obtaining a building that close to the White House. Wright explained that possibility to DCNF.

"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."

"But what's especially alarming are emerging ops that properties like this allow--like hidden drone swarms or shipping container missiles. This kind of property is where the next 9/11 will come from."

Senior White House staff, Secret Service agents, and executive branch officials' communications are now accessible because of a building Qiu legally owns.

Gordon Chang, author and leading China expert, gave an even more blunt assessment:

"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. No ifs, ands, or buts."

So how in the hell did this happen?

Michael Lucci, the founder of State Armor--a national security-focused policy organization--described the security risks as "screamingly obvious."

Lucci told the DCNF:

"CCP intelligence agents have been caught buying property around military installations and critical infrastructure where they commit espionage in preparation for sabotage.”

"We need government action to force the sale of the commercial property controlled by the CCP associate and a ban on this happening in the future."

No Kidding.

President Trump tried to circumvent this. In February 2025, his executive memorandum instructed CFIUS (the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) to prevent Chinese investments in critical sectors and to protect real estate near sensitive government facilities. Since then, Trump has utilized this authority to block two separate Chinese acquisitions of American companies.

So how in the hell did this happen?

Congress has introduced new legislation to close this gap. The Protect Our Bases Act, spearheaded by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, would require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to keep updated records of sensitive facilities. It would also expand the mandatory review of foreign real estate purchases near these facilities.

A new bill, the Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act, aims to establish a category for "elevated risk real estate transactions." This category would trigger an automatic review of purchases made near military installations and intelligence facilities.

So far, neither bill has reached President Trump’s desk.

U.S. officials received credible intelligence warning of an Iranian-linked terror cell with a shoulder-fired missile near the region

Meanwhile, a man who trained as a sniper, served in four CCP posts, and pledged in writing to carry out Xi Jinping's agenda owns a building with a clear line of sight to the Oval Office.

President Trump has been the target of three major, well-documented assassination attempts, along with various other foiled security plots and threats throughout his campaigns and presidency.

Last month, following a NATO summit at an airport in Ankara, Turkey, U.S. officials received credible intelligence warning of an Iranian-linked terror cell with a shoulder-fired missile near the region.

Showing a great deal of ingenuity and dexterity, officials executed a clandestine plane switch. Hidden inside an airport catering truck, the President was moved from the legacy Boeing 747 serving as Air Force One to a smaller C-32A military aircraft, leaving journalists and some staff on board the decoy plane.

Presidential security can’t be left to a hit-or-miss approach. Acting spontaneously, officials took the necessary steps to protect the president in Turkey, but with an immovable object like an office building, they lost track of who was spending $8.4 million to purchase it.

This oversight definitely could have been prevented, much like the assassination attempt in Butler; one has to wonder what exactly the protocol is for Presidential safety when it comes to surrounding buildings.

The team in charge of protecting President Trump can’t just make the “Splash Plays” and then fall flat on their face by overlooking the obvious threats. This is a dangerous situation that never should have materialized.

Milt Harris——Bio and Archives

Milt spent thirty years as a sales and operations manager for an international manufacturing company. He is also a four-time published author on a variety of subjects. Now, he spends most of his time researching and writing about conservative politics and liberal folly.