Washington accuses Chinese state of spy operations on its soil

A dozen Chinese spies were charged in three distinct cases, revealed, Monday, October 24, the Ministry of Justice.

by

The staging matters as much as the message conveyed. On Monday, October 24, the United States Attorney General Merrick Garland led an unexpected press conference for thirteen people working for the benefit of China on American soil. Alongside the Minister were his assistants, as well as the director of the Federal Police (FBI), Christopher Wray, giving a solemn character to this communication. The boss of the FBI has questioned The” scandalous behavior “of the China inside American borders. “They try to silence all those who try to prevent their flights – companies, political leaders, individuals – as they are trying to silence those who try to prevent their other attacks,” continued Mr. Wray. p>

Difficult not to note the coincidence between this press conference and the end of the Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, the day before, marked by the renewal in his functions of the President, Xi Jinping. “The actions announced today take place against the backdrop of malicious activities of the government of the People’s Republic of China, which include spying, attempts to disrupt our judicial system, harassment of individuals and in progress to steal sensitive American technologies “, listed Mr. Garland’s assistant, Lisa Monaco.

In a press release published Monday , the Department of Justice gave some details on the various cases in question. In the first, educated in New York, seven Chinese nationals were charged for trying to cause the forced repatriation of a compatriot living in the United States. For this, they would have monitored and harassed, as part of an operation called “fox hunt” and set up by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. The manager of this operation is a businessman appointed Quanzhong An, installed in Queens, in New York, and majority shareholder of a hotel. It was he who would have regularly transmitted threats to the targeted person – accused of corruption – or to his son, their last meeting dating back to September 29. Quanzhong An would have hoped to achieve its ends before the Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Two of the suspects were arrested on October 20, the others remaining on the run.

long -term operation

In the second case, educated in New Jersey, four Chinese – including three spies working on behalf of the Ministry of State Security – were charged as a long -term intelligence operation. According to the charge document, there was a recruitment effort, between 2008 and 2018, aimed in particular by university professors who have access to sensitive information, as well as a former federal agent, so that they work for ‘Chinese state. Their clandestine activities were under the cover of a university center created for the occasion, the International Studies Institute. The latter would have offered the former American federal agent, who became a professor, all costs paid in China. In exchange, he would have been asked to provide sensitive information on fingerprint recognition technologies, as well as aid to thwart antichineois demonstrations in the United States, before the transfer of the Olympic flame to China, to Moment of the 2008 Olympic Games. But the former American federal employee denounced these attempts to recruit the authorities of his country.

You have 32.03% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.

/Media reports.