New York man accused of spying on Chinese dissidents, DOJ says
The Department of Justice accused a New York man Wednesday of spying on Chinese pro-democracy activists and dissidents on behalf of the Chinese government.
WASHINGTON — A New York man was charged Wednesday with operating as an illegal agent of the Chinese government in the United States, accusing him of spying on Chinese pro-democracy activists and dissidents, the Department of Justice said.
The DOJ alleges that Yuanjun Tang, 67, acted as a Chinese agent from 2018 to 2023 at the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), its principal intelligence agency.
Tang gave to MSS intelligence officers information about individuals and groups viewed by China “as potentially adverse” to its interests, including prominent U.S.-based Chinese dissidents, the DOJ said.
He helped MSS infiltrate a group chat on an encrypted messaging application used by numerous Chinese dissidents, the DOJ said.
Tang is also accused of making false statements to the FBI when he claimed he was no longer able to access an email account used to communicate with his MSS handler, the department said.
Rating: 5