The United States Justice Department has charged five people with stalking, harassing, and spying on Chinese nationals who are living in the country as U.S. residents on behalf of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) secret police due to "pro-democracy views."
DOJ officials arrested co-conspirators Fan "Frank" Liu and Matthew Ziburis on Tuesday as Shujun Wang on Wednesday in the Eastern District of New York. The other two defendants remain at large and were identified to be Qiming Lin and Qiang "Jason" Sun.
Chinese Spies
During a press briefing on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Brein Peace said that the victims of the suspects were targeted because of their pro-democracy views. He added that the defendants were accused of "conspiring to act as agents of the PRC government.
The DOJ said that the five suspects are accused of threatening and spying on Chinese individuals in the United States who have expressed their opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Officials argued that the reason behind the efforts was to help Chinese officials target them for arrest, as per Fox News.
The charges against the defendants stemmed from three different complaints that were unsealed on Wednesday by a federal court. In a statement, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen said that the cases were prime examples of what he called an "alarming rise in transnational repression."
Last month, Olsen announced that there have been efforts to fight transnational repression that will become the main focus of the National Security Division's new strategy to fight against nation-state threats. He argued that transnational repression harmed people in the U.S. and worldwide while also threatening the rule of law itself.
According to Yahoo News, in one incident, the defendant allegedly worked for the Ministry of State Security, China's civilian intelligence, and secret police agency. They allegedly conspired to sabotage the congressional campaign of a U.S. military veteran who was a leader of the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square when he was a student in Beijing in 1989.
Pro-Democracy Views
The most recent suspects are also accused of crimes including planning to destroy the artwork of a Chinese national who was living in Los Angeles after being critical of the Chinese government.
In the third case, authorities charged a former Chinese scholar who helped start a pro-democracy organization in Queens for allegedly using his position within New York City's Chinese community to collect information relating to prominent activists, dissidents, and human rights leaders.
The information is allegedly sent to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), which is a civilian intelligence and secret police agency that is responsible for political security. The three defendants who have been arrested are scheduled to appear in court in Brooklyn on Wednesday and the Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lin, one of the two accused who remains at large, is a Chinese citizen living in China who is believed to be working for the MSS. Beginning last September, the suspect allegedly hired a private investigator in New York to disrupt the campaign of a Brooklyn resident who was running for Congress, including physically attacking the victim, the Washington Post reported.
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