Is it a “fox hunt” for suspects wanted in China or repeated violations of international laws? Are the Chinese ignoring the rights of people living in the United States by seizing them and forcing them to return to China against their will?
On March 30, Sun Hoi Ying was accused of working with a local U.S. law enforcement officer to intimidate and forcefully repatriate U.S. and Canadian residents back to China; residents that Chinese officials allege have broken laws.
Prosecutors allege that from 2017-22, Sun Hoi Ying, as part of China’s Operation Fox Hunt, pressured and intimidated persons whom China considers criminals.
Liu Pengyu of the Chinese Embassy.
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Assistant attorney general for national security Matthew Olsen, in a Department of Justice release, said this case is far from unique. It further illustrates a pattern of behavior by 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,” Olsen said. “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.”
Liu Pengyu, a Chinese Embassy minister-counselor and spokesman, refuted the idea that Chinese officials were violating laws or anyone’s rights.
“Fighting cross-border crimes, repatriating corrupt fugitives and recovering illegal proceeds are a just cause widely recognized by the international community,” Pengyu told DOJ Newswire.
In the release, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said federal authorities were closely following this Chinese program.
“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,” Williams said. “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.
"[These] 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.”
Alan E. Kohler Jr., assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, urged other victims to come forth.
“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,” Kohler said in the release. “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.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Bureau of Investigations sent a letter to Chinese law enforcement officials in 2016 requesting the Chinese discontinue Operation Fox Hunt unless a request is made to the FBI first.
Also in March, five Chinese agents (three were arrested while two remain at large) were charged with using similar bullying tactics on Chinese dissidents, including Yan Xiong, a Democratic candidate for House seat representing New York’s 10th District, and the father of Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu, Arthur Liu.
As a student, Yan Xiong participated in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and subsequently fled China after the protests were quelled by the Chinese government.
Beijing’s Operation Fox Hunt is an attempt to capture and repatriate what Chinese officials allege as fugitives who have participated in corruption and crime, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, the persons of interest have been more likely political rivals of the CCP, business people, dissidents and whistleblowers.
President Xi Jinping launched Operation Fox Hunt in 2014. According to a Pro Publica report, since the operation's launch, Chinese agents have recruited U.S. accomplices to spy, harass and intimidate hundreds of Chinese expats who have become legal permanent U.S. residents or citizens.
The same Pro Publica report said fugitives are forced to return after repatriation squads use threats of extortion such as abducting of relatives, torture or incarceration.
Nonprofit human rights group Freedom House presented a report stating that China conducts “the most sophisticated, global and comprehensive campaign of transnational repression in the world, conscripted Chinese agents and allies have infiltrated and saturated the Chinese diaspora."
Chinese conscripts turned spies may sometimes be a captured target’s family members, thus ensuring obedience and loyalty. The next step is to build a network of local investigators. Former police officers are preferred as they have the skill set and contacts to find and monitor targets.
Pengyu pushed back on the notion the Chinese government was not respectful of laws in other nations. They follow all guidelines, he insisted.
“When conducting law enforcement cooperation with other countries, the Chinese law enforcement authorities strictly observe international law, fully respect foreign laws and judicial sovereignty, and guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects,” he said. “Their operations are beyond reproach.”
According to Pro Publica, repatriation teams have been able to clandestinely conduct operations for years by taking advantage of fear and a reticent nature in immigrant communities.
Because the U.S. and China do not have an extradition treaty, China alleges the U.S. is a refuge for Chinese fugitives.
