The U.S. DOJ announced that 13 individuals, including members of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) intelligence apparatus and their agents, have been charged for alleged efforts to unlawfully exert influence in the U. S. for the benefit of the government of the PRC. The eight-count indictment charged seven PRC nationals with participating in a scheme to cause the forced repatriation of a PRC national residing in the United States. Two agents have been arrested.
In three separate cases in the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern District of New York and the District of New Jersey, the Justice Department has charged 13 individuals, including members of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) security and intelligence apparatus, for alleged efforts to unlawfully exert influence in the United States for the benefit of the government of the PRC. Some of the defendants are accused of conducting surveillance of and engaging in a campaign to harass and coerce a U.S. resident to return to the PRC as part of an international extralegal repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox Hunt.”
These three cases would highlight the threat individuals acting at the direction of the PRC government pose to the U.S. institutions and the rights of the U.S. people, the DOJ said.
These indictments of PRC intelligence officers and government officials – for trying to obstruct a U.S. trial of a Chinese company, masquerading as university professors to steal sensitive information, and trying to strong-arm a victim into returning to China – again expose the PRC’s outrageous behavior within our own borders,” said
FBI Director Christopher Wray
The U.S. National Security Division was created to take on the most significant national security threats. These cases reflect the breadth and persistence of hostile nation-state activity.
