US Charges 7 Chinese Nationals Accused of Forced Repatriation Campaign, Harassment

Seven Chinese nationals have been prosecuted by the US in an alleged lengthy scheme to coerce a US resident into returning to China to face criminal prosecution.

The case is associated with Operation Fox Hunt, a global anti-corruption drive by the Chinese Communist Party that targets Chinese fugitives.

Report: China Plot to Forcibly Repatriate 'Elite' Chinese

Operation Fox Hunt was started by the Chinese government in 2014 to hunt down wealthy people who had fled the country with a lot of money after being suspected of wrongdoing. According to the US Department of Justice, the Chinese government has acted unilaterally and without consulting or working with the US government to carry out such law enforcement operations on US soil.

The seven defendants were charged on Thursday by the Justice Department with plotting to act in the US as unlawful agents of the People's Republic of China, according to the Justice Department. The remaining five accused are still at large, while two have been captured and arrested. The accused could receive a maximum 10-year prison sentence if found guilty of serving as China's agents.

Chinese officials and their assets allegedly threatened the targets and their families, including those who were still living in China, with harm, including imprisonment, to force their repatriation to China, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn.

Authorities allege that the defendants followed a US citizen living in New York and engaged in a campaign to harass him into going back to China, according to CNN.

Residents of Roslyn, New York, Quanzhong An, 55, and his daughter Guangyang An, 34, were detained on Thursday morning and charged with conspiring to act as agents of the People's Republic of China (PRC), conspiring to engage in interstate and international stalking, and conspiring to launder money.

To pressure the victim into going back to China, Quanzhong An is accused of harassing the victim and his family members. In 2018, a victim's relative who still resides in China was led to New York on the pretense of a global tour. In a recorded discussion, the family member met with the son of the primary victim and informed him that the government in China would like to urge the elite overseas Chinese to return.

Chinese Harassed US Resident

According to the indictment, Quanzhong An allegedly met with the victim's son in a series of meetings from 2020 to 2022 and claimed he was driven by the Chinese government's desire to "save their names" and repatriate as many Chinese fugitives as possible.

The four suspects, who are Chinese nationals, remain at large. On Thursday afternoon, Quanzhong An and Guangyang An were supposed to be charged, as per Fox News. The relative told John Doe-2 during a meeting in a restaurant in September 2018 that he had been obliged to go there by the government as part of a scheme to repatriate the 100 most-wanted fugitives, according to the indictment.

The family also experienced other forms of intimidation, such as a campaign of letters, one of which warned that coming back and handing yourself in is the only way out. The father allegedly stole money from a Chinese employer, and the son allegedly made illicit gains from the scam, according to a case the Chinese government filed in a New York state court against the father and son.

In this instance, the victims attempted to escape an oppressive regime, leaving behind their homes, loved ones, and lives in search of a better life here. According to Michael Driscoll, the FBI's assistant director in charge of the New York office. That same government deployed operatives to the United States to harass, intimidate, and forcibly return them to the People's Republic of China, according to South China Morning Post.