A foundation named for a businessman with extensive ties to Chinese Communist Party organizations has purchased a historic Washington building just hundreds of feet from the White House, raising concerns about potential national security risks.

The Philip Qiu and Family Foundation purchased the Securities Building for $8.4 million on July 21, according to an investigation by the Daily Caller. The property sits approximately 650 feet northeast of the White House grounds.

Philip Qiu, also known as Qiu Feili, has held positions in Chinese government and security agencies as well as organizations connected to the CCP’s United Front Work Department, according to the report.

Qiu began his career as a detective with a criminal investigation unit in Shanghai’s Public Security Bureau, which operates under China’s Ministry of Public Security.

The Caller also identified at least three positions Qiu has held in organizations connected to the United Front Work Department, which U.S. officials have scrutinized for its overseas influence activities.

Since 2021, Qiu has served as chairman of the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation, an organization operating within Shanghai’s United Front system. According to the Caller, Qiu pledged at a 2021 meeting to implement Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s directives on overseas Chinese affairs.

“The CCP is like a kind, but firm parent,” Qiu said in 2021, according to the Caller’s translation of a Chinese-language announcement.

The property’s location has drawn particular concern. Former CIA operations officer Bryan Dean Wright told the Caller that a building so close to the White House could potentially facilitate intelligence gathering, including the interception of electronic communications.

Qiu also co-founded the Chinese American Museum in Washington in 2017. The museum maintains that it is not “funded, controlled, or influenced by any foreign government.” The Caller, however, reported that Chinese government entities have co-sponsored at least eight museum programs, including four that received support from religious organizations controlled by the United Front Work Department.

Michael Lucci, CEO of national security advocacy organization State Armor, described the potential risks surrounding the property as “screamingly obvious” and called for federal intervention.