Tensions are mounting between the United States and China amid new spy charges and a tit-for-tat scuffle, straining relations between the world’s two largest economies.
A Singaporean man in Washington, DC, pleaded guilty to charges of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, the Justice Department said Friday.
Jun Wei Yeo, also known as Dickson Yeo, was busted for operating a bogus consulting agency designed to extract information from US government workers and the military. The feds say he began working for Chinese intelligence five years ago after being recruited while studying in Beijing.
“The Chinese government uses an array of duplicity to obtain sensitive information from unsuspecting Americans,” United States Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement.
“Yeo was central to one such scheme, using career networking sites and a false consulting firm to lure Americans who might be of interest to the Chinese government. This is yet another example of the Chinese government’s exploitation of the openness of American society.”
Yeo is expected to be sentenced in October and could face up to 10 years in prison.
The bust is the latest in a string of escalations between China and the United States in recent days.
Also on Friday, the US government moved to arrest four scientists who are accused of having undisclosed ties to the Chinese military. They were each charged with visa fraud.
One suspect, Juan Tang, who taught at the University of California, Davis, had taken refuge in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, which has now been accused of harboring a known fugitive.
The feds have accused Tang of lying about her affiliations after uncovering a photo of her in uniform and proof that she once taught at China’s Air Force Military Medical University.
“Tang denied serving in the Chinese military, claimed she did not know the meaning of the insignia on her uniform, and that wearing a military uniform was required for attendance at FMMU because it was a military school,” US attorneys wrote in court filings.
On Wednesday, the US also ordered the closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston. Officials accused Chinese diplomats there of turning the facility into a hub of illegal spying, particularly for medical research.
The Chinese struck back by closing the US Consulate in the city of Chengdu. American diplomats have been given until 10 a.m. Monday to vacate the premises.
The US Consulate in the southwestern Chinese metropolis has been in operation since 1985 and maintained a staff of 200.
“The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. “The current situation in Chinese-US relations is not what China desires to see. The United States is responsible for all this.”
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July 26, 2020 at 12:01AM
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