Prosecutors explained that New York resident Shujun Wang, 73, worked with four members of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), reporting to them about members of a pro-democracy group that he started in Queens.
The indictment alleges that Wang acted as an agent of the People’s Republic of China from at least 2005 until March 16, 2022, under MSS control, and “used his position … within the Chinese diaspora community in the New York metropolitan area to collect information about Chinese dissidents, human rights leaders and democracy advocates in the United States and elsewhere and to pass that information to the PRC government[.]”
Federal authorities explained that Chinese officials directed Wang to target people and groups that supported causes like Uyghurs, Tibet, Taiwanese independence, and democracy for Hong Kong.
Wang allegedly met with MSS officials in China, communicated with them through a messaging application, and shared knowledge with them via email diaries.
FROM CONTROVERSY TO COMPASSION: DANIEL SNYDER'S JAW-DROPPING GIFT LEAVES NATION IN AWE
The Chinese officials facing charges are Feng He, Jie Li, Ming Li, and Keqing Lu.
WATCH: RFK JR. WILL REVERSE 80 YEARS OF FARM POLICY
“We will not tolerate efforts by the PRC or any authoritarian government to export repressive measures to our country,” Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s National Security Division Matthew Olsen announced in a statement. “These charges demonstrate the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to hold accountable all those who violate our laws in seeking to suppress dissenting voices within the United States and to prevent our residents from exercising their lawful rights”
INTRUDER SLIPS PAST TSA, BOARDS DELTA PLANE, IN EPIC SECURITY FAILURE
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to Francis Suarez, Mayor of the City of Miami and President of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP), attempts to gain influence over local officials. Rubio pressed him to raise the matter of CCP espionage and influence operations at USCM’s Annual Meeting in June. The letter comes after the City of Miami Beach’s choice earlier this week to host representatives from the China Global Television Network (CGTN), a CCP-controlled broadcaster.
JAMES CARVILLE'S CONTROVERSIAL CRITIQUE: IS WOKE CULTURE KILLING DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT?
“What seemed like a harmless publicity tour was actually much more,” Rubio wrote. “It was very likely the beginning of a long-term effort by China to build a relationship with Miami Beach City’s leadership responsible for important operations in one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities.”
FROM CONTROVERSY TO COMPASSION: DANIEL SNYDER'S JAW-DROPPING GIFT LEAVES NATION IN AWE
“America truly faces an unprecedented threat from the CCP,” Rubio went on. “It has methodically undermined our economic strength by stealing our critical technology, manufacturing capacity, and jobs. It destroyed our social cohesion by luring away those jobs, and as a result hollowing out once-vibrant cities and communities. It used a corporate lust for quarterly profits to infiltrate every segment of American society, from government and business to academia and entertainment. And it continues to flood our cities with Fentanyl.”