US accuses China of harassing Chinese dissidents based on its soil

The United States accused China of harassing Chinese activists based in its territory.

“The United States will not tolerate flagrantly illegal actions that target American residents, on American soil, and undermine our cherished American values ​​and rights.said US Attorney Breon Peace, who announced charges against five men.

Peace reported “three cases (involving) campaigns to silence, harass, discredit and spy on US residents simply for exercising their free speech”, he added.

In the first case, Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) agent Lin Qiming was criminally charged with conspiring to defame a New York-based Chinese dissident running for New York state Congress.

Although the dissident was not identified, his profile matches that of Yan Xiong, a former student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.

According to the complaint, Lin contacted a private investigator in the United States seeking compromising information about Yan, who fled to the United States in 1992, served in the US military as a chaplain and in September announced that he was seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for a seat. for Long Island in the New York Congress.

In a second case, prosecutors charged Shujun Wang, 73, a prominent Chinese-born academic living in Queens, New York, with acting as an agent for the Chinese government.

Wang, who was arrested on Wednesday and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, founded a pro-democracy organization, but since at least 2015.”operates secretly under the direction and control of various MSS officers”, according to prosecutors.

In the third case, Fan “Frank” Liu, 62, and Matthew Ziburis, 49, both of New York, and Quiang “Jason” Sun, 40, of China, were charged with acting as agents of the Chinese government and conspiring to discredit pro-democracy activists living in the United States.