Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
A Queens resident, Yuanjun Tang, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the United States. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. Tang entered his plea before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 29, 2026.
“For years, Yuanjun Tang abused the trust he had gained among pro-democracy activists in New York City and around the United States by secretly accepting tasks from Chinese intelligence officers and reporting on persons of interest to the PRC and events conducted in support of democracy,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Tang’s covert operations violated our nation’s sovereignty and threatened the security of New Yorkers exercising their fundamental rights to free speech and free association. Tang’s plea today illustrates our profound commitment to protecting American ideals from malign foreign influence.”
“Today, Yuanjun Tang admitted that, for years, he willingly acted on orders of the Chinese government to report on the constitutionally protected activities of US-based Chinese dissidents,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia. “Tang's betrayal of the ideals of the US to help the Chinese government repress pro-democracy activists goes against the very values he claimed to promote. The FBI will continue to defend the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution and bring to justice anyone willing to break the law by illegally acting on behalf of a hostile foreign nation.”
Court documents state that Tang is a former citizen of China who was previously imprisoned there for his opposition activities against China’s one-party system during events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. After defecting to Taiwan in 2002, he was granted political asylum in the United States where he became involved with other PRC dissidents and led a nonprofit organization focused on promoting democracy in China.
Between at least 2018 and June 2023, authorities say Tang worked under direction from officers with China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), which handles foreign intelligence and counterintelligence for Beijing. He reportedly provided information about individuals considered adversaries by Chinese authorities—including prominent democracy activists—and documented participants at pro-democracy events within the U.S.
Investigators found that Tang also supplied contact details for immigration lawyers based in New York City along with information about how people can obtain political asylum in America. In exchange for his work, Tang received monetary payments from MSS agents and traveled multiple times between Macau or mainland China for meetings with them; during these trips he underwent polygraph tests and allowed spyware installation on his phone.
According to law enforcement officials, digital evidence recovered included encrypted communications between Tang and MSS handlers as well as photos, videos, documents prepared for transmission overseas, and evidence showing efforts by MSS—facilitated by Tang—to infiltrate private group chats used by pro-democracy advocates.
Tang pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General—a charge carrying up to five years’ imprisonment under federal law.
U.S. Attorney Clayton commended both FBI investigators from its Counterintelligence Division and colleagues at Justice Department headquarters for their roles in bringing this case forward.
The prosecution is being managed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Yumi Chong alongside Trial Attorney Sean O’Dowd from DOJ’s National Security Division Counterintelligence Section.
