Law enforcement officers in New York have arrested a Chinese citizen for spying on pro-democracy groups and passing information to China’s intelligence agencies. The US Justice Department issued a press release stating that Yuanjun Tang was acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and had made false statements to the FBI. The Department alleges that Tang has been spying in the US since 2018 and was acting on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).
The press release also stated that the suspect met with MSS officials at least three times and helped them gain access to encrypted messages between members of US campaign groups, as well as Chinese dissidents. Tang had previously been imprisoned in China for protesting against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and fled to Taiwan upon his release.
Mr. Tang is a naturalized US citizen, having been granted political asylum several years ago. He was present at the famous Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, but despite his history of anti-CCP activism, prosecutors believe he agreed to work for the government in exchange for permission to visit his family in China.
Among the information he allegedly provided to Chinese authorities were plans for New York Tiananmen Square commemorations and details about a Congressional candidate’s campaign strategy. The candidate is unnamed but is understood to be a fellow Chinese dissident.
Tang also helped the MSS monitor a group chat involving Chinese nationals in the US, including the Congressional candidate—thought to be based in Flushing, New York—and other PRC dissidents. In allegedly false statements to the FBI, Tang told investigators he could no longer access the email account he used to communicate with his MSS contact.
The Justice Department states that the suspect is facing charges of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, which carries a five-year prison term, a second count of acting as a foreign agent without informing the Attorney General, which carries a ten-year term, and making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
