Five Individuals Charged with Stalking, Harassing, and Spying on U.S. Residents on Behalf of the PRC Secret Police
The FBI has brought charges against five individuals for spying and acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.
[DOJ Press Release]
The charges include electronic surveillance done by planting covert cameras and other devices in the home of a Chinese dissident. The extreme levels of electronic spying and harassment should be a warning to all.
United States v. Fan “Frank” Liu, Matthew Ziburis, and Qiang “Jason” Sun
Fan “Frank” Liu, Matthew Ziburis, and Qiang “Jason” Sun
According to the charges, Liu and Ziburis have been operating under Sun’s direction to discredit pro-democracy PRC dissidents residing in the United States—including in New York City, California, and Indiana—by spying on them and disseminating negative information about them.
As part of their efforts, the defendants electronically spied on the pro-democracy activists. For example, posing as an art dealer interested in purchasing the artwork of the dissident artist, Ziburis secretly installed surveillance cameras and GPS devices at the dissident’s workplace and in his car. While in the PRC, Sun watched the live video feed and location data from these devices. The defendants made similar plans to install surveillance equipment at the residences and on the vehicles of two other dissidents. Liu and Ziburis planned to gain access to one such residence by posing as a member of an international sports committee.
Electronic surveillance was not all they were up to. The Department of Justice press release gives more details on the extreme levels of harassment that were deployed against Chinese nationals and others critical of the Chinese government.
The full press release from the Department of Justice can be read here: [DOJ Press Release]
The Defendants Participated in Transnational Repression Schemes to Silence Critics of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Residing in the United States and Abroad
Two complaints were unsealed and one amended complaint was authorized today [March 16, 2022] in federal court in Brooklyn charging five defendants with various crimes related to efforts by the secret police of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to stalk, harass, and spy on Chinese nationals residing in Queens, New York and elsewhere in the United States.
United States v. Qiming Lin (still at large)
Lin is charged with conspiracy to commit interstate harassment, as well as conspiracy and attempt to use of a means of identification in connection with the interstate harassment conspiracy.
As alleged, Lin, a citizen and resident of the PRC, works on behalf of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). The MSS is a civilian intelligence and secret police agency responsible for counterintelligence and political security.
The Ministry of State Security is more than an intelligence collection agency. It executes the Chinese government’s efforts to limit free speech, attack dissidents, and preserve the power of the Communist Party,” stated FBI Assistant Director Kohler. “When it exports those actions overseas, it violates the fundamental sovereignty of the US and becomes a national security threat. These indictments should serve as a stark warning to the MSS and all foreign intelligence agencies that their efforts at repression will not be tolerated within our borders.
Beginning in September 2021, Lin hired a private investigator in New York to disrupt the campaign of a Brooklyn resident currently running for U.S. Congress (the Victim), including by physically attacking the Victim. The Victim was a student leader of the prodemocracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989, who later escaped to the United States, served in the U.S. military, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In September 2021, the Victim (then living in Long Island) announced his intention to run for a U.S. congressional seat on Long Island in the November 2022 general election.
According to public records and open-source information, the candidate was Yan Xiong, who came to the United States as a political refugee several years after the crackdown at Tiananmen Square, then served in the U.S. military and became a naturalized American.
In hiring the PI, Lin explained that if the Victim was selected during the June 2022 primary election, then he might be “elected to be a legislator. Right now we don’t want him to be elected.” Lin emphasized that “Whatever price is fine. As long as you can do it.” He also promised that “we will have a lot more-more of this [work] in the future . . . Including right now [a] New York State legislator.” Lin explained to the PI that Lin was working with other unidentified individuals in the PRC to stop the Victim from being elected to U.S. Congress.
As alleged, Lin first asked the PI to provide information about the Victim, including the Victim’s address and phone number, which the PI later provided. Lin also requested that the PI unearth derogatory information about the Victim or, if no such information could be found, “manufacture something, like what happened to [a famous concert pianist (the Pianist)]?” That request referred to an incident in Beijing in which the Pianist was reportedly detained after allegedly being found in the company of a prostitute. Lin later reiterated that, if the PI could not uncover a scandal, then “can they create some?” Lin also encouraged the PI to “go find a girl . . . Or see how he goes for prostitution, take some photos, something of that nature.”
In December 2021, Lin proposed that the PI also consider physically attacking the Victim to prevent his candidacy. In a voice message to the PI, Lin stated:
You can start thinking now, aside from violence, what other plans are there? Huh? But in the end, violence would be fine too. Huh? Beat him [chuckles], beat him until he cannot run for election. Heh, that’s the-the last resort. You-you think about it. Car accident, [he] will be completely wrecked [chuckles], right? Don’t know, eh, whatever ways from all different angles. Or, on the day of the election, he cannot make it there himself, right?
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon and David K. Kessler are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Full details are provided in the Department of Justice press release.
[Read more: DOJ Press Release]