A man was charged with a transnational repression campaign while acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government in the United States.
According to a March 30 news release issued by the Department of Justice, 45-year-old Sun Hoi Ying, a Chinese national, has been charged in a criminal complaint in the Southern District of New York. The charge was conspiring to act in the U.S. as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China.
“This case demonstrates, once again, the PRC’s disdain for the rule of law and its efforts to coerce and intimidate those it targets on our shores as part of its Operation Fox Hunt," Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice, said in the release. "The defendant allegedly traveled to the United States and enlisted others, including a sworn law enforcement officer, to spy on and blackmail his victims. Such conduct is both criminal and reprehensible.”
“The PRC government launched a campaign dubbed ‘Operation Fox Hunt,’ a global plot to repress dissent and to forcibly repatriate so-called ‘fugitives’ – including citizens living legally in the United States – through the use of unsanctioned, unilateral and illegal practices," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, according to the release. "We allege Mr. Sun, as part of that campaign, attempted to threaten and coerce a victim into bending to the PRC’s will, even using a co-conspirator who is a member of U.S. law enforcement to reinforce that the victim had no choice but to comply with the PRC government’s demands. Today’s charges reflect this office’s continued commitment, working hand in hand with our partners at the FBI, to combat transnational repression and bringing to justice those who perpetrate it.”
“The Chinese government takes advantage of our freedoms – freedoms they deny their own citizens – to advance their authoritarian regime and calls uncomfortable truths about their behavior rumors and lies," said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. "There’s nothing false about seeing example after example of the Chinese government’s underhanded and illegal behavior here in the United States. I urge anyone to contact the FBI if you feel you’re a victim of the Chinese government’s illegal Fox Hunt activities.”
