Washington DC, June 26 -- United States lawmakers have issued a stark warning regarding the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) "epic campaign" to infiltrate American local governments, citing the recent conviction of a former California mayor as a critical "alarm bell" for national security.

The Select Committee on China Chairman, John Moolenaar, in his opening statement on Thursday at the hearing titled 'China's Economic Espionage and Subnational Influence in the United States', accused the Chinese government of undertaking "an epic campaign" to undermine the United States at home.

The campaign, he said, spanned economic and traditional espionage, state-directed cyber intrusions, talent recruitment programs, information warfare, covert in...