US convicts academic of being Chinese ‘foreign agent’
Federal prosecutors said the accused portrayed himself as a proponent of democracy in China to gain the trust of dissidents. He was convicted of sharing information with Beijing’s Ministry of State Security.
Federal prosecutors said the accused portrayed himself as a proponent of democracy in China to gain the trust of dissidents. He was convicted of sharing information with Beijing’s Ministry of State Security.
A jury has convicted a Chinese-American academic of being a foreign agent after prosecutors accused him of passing information on to BeijingImage: Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/ZUMA Press Wire/picture alliance
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The US on Tuesday convicted a Chinese-American academic of illegally collecting information for Beijing.
Wang Shujun, 76, was found guilty on four counts including acting as a foreign agent without notifying the US attorney general and lying to US authorities. His sentence is scheduled for January next year. He could face up to 25 years in prison.
What else do we know about the case?
Federal prosecutors said Wang portrayed himself as a proponent of democracy in China and as an opponent of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to gain the trust of dissidents.
He was in correspondence with Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, supporters of Taiwan declaring independence and campaigners for western China’s ethnic Uyghur and Tibetan minority groups.
Prosecutors accused Wang of spying on the activists and sharing information with Beijing’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).
According to prosecutors, Wang saved email drafts that contained information on conversations, meetings and plans of various critics of the Chinese government. Chinese intelligence officials could read the drafts by signing in with a shared password.
The indictment said that Wang also wrote separate encrypted messages that contained details of upcoming pro-democracy events and plans for him to meet with prominent Hong Kong dissidents.
