Human Rights
Charges against 5 for plots against Chinese dissidents in U.S.
Federal prosecutors have charged five people for acting as agents of the Chinese government to target, harass and spy on Chinese nationals with “pro-democracy” views living in the U.S. The Department of Justice say the five men are connected to three separate plots against Chinese people living in the U.S. who have expressed opposition to the Chinese Communist Party.
March 20, 2022 11:29am
Updated: March 22, 2022 4:47pm
Los fiscales federales han acusado a cinco personas por actuar como agentes del gobierno chino para atacar, hostigar y espiar a ciudadanos chinos con puntos de vista "pro-democracia" que viven en los EE. UU.
El Departamento de Justicia dice que los cinco hombres están conectados con tres complots separados contra los chinos que viven en los EE. UU. y que han expresado su oposición al Partido Comunista Chino. Las autoridades arrestaron a los co-conspiradores Fan "Frank" Liu y Matthew Ziburis el martes y a Shujon Wang el miércoles en Nueva York, informa Fox News.
Otros dos acusados, Quiming Lin y Qiang “Jason” Sun, siguen prófugos.
“Los estados autoritarios de todo el mundo se sienten envalentonados para ir más allá de sus fronteras para intimidar o tomar represalias contra las personas que se atreven a hablar en contra de la represión y la corrupción”, dijo el miércoles el fiscal general adjunto Matthew Olsen de la División de Seguridad Nacional del Departamento de Justicia.
“This activity is antithetical to fundamental American values,” Olsen added. “We will not tolerate such repression here when it violates our laws.”
In one alleged plot, Lin attempted to sabotage the congressional campaign of Xiong Yan, who participated in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and is now a naturalized American citizen in New York. A private investigator was hired by Lin to find damaging information to discredit Yan, and failing that, attempt to honeytrap him with prostitutes.
In a second case, Wang, a 73-year-old former visiting scholar and author, is accused of using a pro-democracy organization he founded as a front to collect information about prominent Chinese activists, dissidents and human rights leaders.
The DOJ has confirmed Lin and Wang were working at the instruction of China’s Ministry of State Security.
The remaining three defendants were involved in the third plot to collect information on several dissidents, one of whom was Arthur Liu, a San Francisco activist and lawyer whose daughter Alysa was an American Olympic figure skater.
“They are still paying attention to me after 30-some years, since I organized protests and hunger strikes for democracy in China,” Arthur told NBC, who said he has been a target of Chinese schemes since at least the 1990s. “I'm a little bit surprised that after all this time, they're still keeping track of me.”
They also planned to destroy the art of Weiming Chen, a California-based artist who created a sculpture depicting Chinese President Xi Jingping as a COVID-19 virus. Named “CCP Virus,” the sculpture was destroyed in a fire last year.
Artist Weiming Chen (@chenweiming2017) unveils "#CCPVirus🇨🇳" at Liberty Sculpture Park in Yermo
— Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong. 重光團隊 (@Stand_with_HK) June 7, 2021
Completion Date: June 4th, 2021.
(Photo: @Byron_Wan) pic.twitter.com/aa9ygV0nUM
Los arrestos son parte de una nueva “Estrategia para contrarrestar las amenazas del Estado-nación”, que está reemplazando la “Iniciativa de China” iniciada por el expresidente Donald Trump. Olsen señaló que el DOJ ha utilizado la nueva estrategia para presentar casos contra agentes bielorrusos, iraníes y rusos también.
