Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
On Wednesday, the Justice Department unsealed complaints that, if true, cast a startling light on the actions of the People’s Republic of China within the borders of the United States.
With the documents, which relate to three emerging court cases, the DOJ accuses China’s secret police force, known as the Ministry of State Security, of employing at least five people to stalk, harass, and spy on Chinese nationals who live in the United States.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said the primary targets of these individuals were people critical of the Chinese government.
“These cases expose attempts by the government of the People’s Republic of China to suppress dissenting voices within the United States,” Olsen said in a statement. “They demonstrate how the PRC seeks to stalk, intimidate, and silence those who oppose it.”
According to Olsen, three men had been arrested, but two more remain at large. Fan “Frank” Liu and Matthew Ziburis were arrested on Tuesday and Shujun Wang was arrested on Wednesday, all in New York. The FBI is still searching for Qiang “Jason” Sun and Qiming Lin.
All five accused parties face multiple charges that fall under the broader crime of political repression, which U.S. Legal defines as “the maltreatment of an individual or group for political reasons, especially for the purpose of limiting or forbidding their ability to take part in the political life of society.” In this case, that repression is alleged to have been transnational.
Lin allegedly paid someone to attack a Brooklyn resident currently running for Congress. The complaint did not list a name of the alleged victim, but it appears this person was Yan Xiong, who is a veteran of the U.S. Army, former chaplain, and man who the DOJ says was “a student leader of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989.”
Wang, who is 73 and a former visiting scholar, is accused of having used the guise of starting a pro-democracy organization to gather information on activists, dissidents, and human rights leaders, at least one of whom was arrested in Hong Kong.
Liu, Ziburis, and Sun are accused of using secretly installed surveillance equipment to spy on pro-democracy activists, attempting to lure activists into phony interviews by pretending that Liu was the owner of a media company, and once posing as members of an international sports committee to attempt to gain access to the home of a dissident. Liu is also alleged to have attempted pay a private investigator to bribe an IRS employee for copies of tax returns of dissidents.
The IRS has reported that no data was ever given; and the Justice Department said that the private investigator, who is cooperating with the prosecution, had never attempted such an action.
The trio is also accused of having conspired to destroy the work of an artist who had been critical of China. The targeted artist created a sculpture that depicted Chinese President Xi Jinping as a giant scull out of which burst a coronavirus molecule. The artist was not named, but given the unique nature of the sculpture, it appears the person in question is Weiming Chen.
“Authoritarian states around the world feel emboldened to reach beyond their borders to intimidate or exact reprisals against individuals who dare to speak out against oppression and corruption,” Olsen said. He later added, “This activity is antithetical to fundamental American values – we will not tolerate such repression here when it violates our laws. We will defend the rights of Americans and those who come to live, work and study in the United States. We will not allow any foreign government to deny them the freedom of speech or the protection of our laws or to threaten their safety or the safety of their families.”
Olsen indicated there could be a larger network of conspirators, but said he hoped more victims would reach out to authorities.
“All three cases show that if you report such abuse, U.S. law enforcement will respond, and demonstrate that law enforcement was able to disrupt these plots and bring perpetrators to justice,” Olsen said.
The defendants face a wide spectrum of possible sentences if convicted, ranging from 5-to-20 years.