Justice Department accuses five people of intimidating Chinese dissidents in the United States
Five people have been charged by the United States Department of Justice for intimidating U.S.-based Chinese dissidents on behalf of the People's Republic of China.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors accused five individuals of intimidating and harassing Chinese dissidents living in the United States, including a congressional candidate from New York.
- โThe complaints unsealed today reveal the outrageous and dangerous lengths to which the P.R.C. governmentโs secret police and these defendants have gone to attack the rule of law,โ New Yorkโbased U.S. attorney Breon Peace stated in the report.
- One of the complaints alleged that a Chinese citizen by the name of Qวmรญng Lรญn ๆๅฏๆ hired a private investigator to โdisrupt the campaignโ of a former U.S. Army member who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The candidate was not identified in court documents, but fits the description of Brooklyn-based Xiรณng Yร n ็็ฑ, who is running in the Democratic primary for New Yorkโs 1st Congressional district, per Politico.
- Other targets included Arthur Liu, a lawyer and political activist in the San Francisco Bay area, as well as the father of the Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu.
Three defendants โplanned to destroy the artwork of a PRC national residing in Los Angeles that was critical of the PRC government, and planted surveillance equipment in the artistโs workplace and car to spy on him from the PRC,โ according to the DoJ.
- The artwork in question appears to be this sculpture of Xi Jinpjngโs head as a coronavirus in a sculpture park next to a California highway, as documented by New York Times journalist Paul Mozur.
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The cases expose attempts by Beijing โto suppress dissenting voices within the United Statesโฆand attempts to stalk, intimidate and silence those who oppose them,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen told a news conference on Wednesday.
- The Justice Department โremains focused on the actions of the P.R.C. government and its agents โ not the Chinese people or those of Chinese descent, who are often the victims of these crimes,โ Olsen stated.
- Last month, Olsen led the abandonment of the China Initiative, the Trump-era Justice Department program that faced widespread criticism for stoking anti-China sentiment and discrimination against people of Chinese origin.
- Similar cases were filed by the Justice Department nearly two years ago, citing efforts by the Chinese government to infiltrate the United States and monitor and harass those considered political opponents of China.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhร o Lรฌjiฤn ่ตต็ซๅ urged the U.S. to stop โsmearing against Chinaโ and โโโabandon the Cold War mentality and ideological biasโ when asked by the Associated Press on the matter.