A former senior aide to two New York governors has been charged with acting as a secret agent for the Chinese government by United States authorities.
Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to New York Governor Kathy Hochul and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, was charged on multiple counts along with her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, according to the US attorney general. The couple are naturalised US citizens.
This comes amid rising scrutiny in the US over foreign influence operations that have been dismissed and rejected by China.
What are the charges?
Sun, 41, was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, according to an unsealed copy of the 64-page indictment.
Hu, her 40-year-old husband, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, according to prosecutors.
The couple’s home on Long Island was raided by federal investigators in July, and Sun had been terminated from the governor’s office for more than a year after officials were alerted of suspicious activity.
Both have pleaded not guilty and were set to be freed after setting bond, which amounted to $1.5m for Sun and $500,000 for Hu. They have been instructed not to have any contact with the Chinese consulate and embassy, and their travel is limited to New York City, Long Island, Maine and New Hampshire.
What exactly is she accused of doing?
Sun worked in the US state’s government for about 15 years, holding positions in the administration of Cuomo before becoming Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, according to public employment records and her LinkedIn profile.
She acted as an undisclosed agent of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party and engaged in political activities to further Chinese interests, according to the US Attorney’s Office in New York.
Sun secured “unauthorised invitation letters” from the office of the governor that were used to get Chinese government officials into the US to meet with New York state officials, the indictment said.
Some of her alleged offences revolve around Taiwan and the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many US officials attack China in the aftermath of the virus being found in and spread from China’s Wuhan.
Authorities said Sun blocked Taiwanese government representatives from accessing high-ranking New York state officials and altered both Cuomo’s and Hochul’s “messaging regarding issues of importance” to the Chinese government.
After the pandemic, Sun worked to ensure that Cuomo publicly thanked Chinese government officials for sending 1,000 ventilators and other medical equipment to the city while simultaneously blocking an effort by Taiwan to get a public acknowledgement for giving masks.
Sun also allegedly made sure that public speeches did not include mentions of the detention of Uighurs in China, and in one instance, added a Chinese official to a private New York government conference call concerning the public health response to the pandemic.
How did the couple benefit from this?
According to US officials, Sun and her husband benefitted immensely from the influence operations, both inside and outside of the country. She is accused of orchestrating millions of dollars in business deals for her husband’s Chinese-connected company.
The couple was said to have been able to purchase their $4.1m home in a gated community in Manhasset on Long Island – which the authorities raided in July – using the benefits, according to court documents.
They are also alleged to have used the money to purchase a condominium in Honolulu worth $2.1m and a number of luxury cars, including a 2024 Ferrari.
Prosecutors said they received tickets to events, employment for Sun’s cousin in China, and Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by the personal chef of a Chinese government official that were delivered to Sun’s parents’ home.
How is everyone reacting to this?
Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, dismissed the allegations and said US authorities have brought similar cases in the past, only to see them fall apart.
“I am not aware of the specific details. But in recent years, the US government and media have frequently hyped up the so-called ‘Chinese agents’ narratives, many of which have later been proven untrue,” he said.
“China requires its citizens overseas to comply with the laws and regulations of the host country, and we firmly oppose the groundless slandering and smearing targeting China.”
Hochul told a local radio station on Tuesday evening that she was shocked and outraged at the alleged behaviour.
“It was a betrayal of trust,” Hochul told WNYC about the allegations against Sun. The governor said her office fired Sun in March 2023, “the second we discovered some levels of misconduct” and alerted the authorities, but did not divulge further details.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, said in a statement that national security “must be free from foreign influence”.
“While Ms Sun was promoted to deputy chief of staff in the subsequent administration, during our time she worked in a handful of agencies and was one of many community liaisons who had little to no interaction with the governor.”
How are the US and China accusing each other?
Accusations of espionage and peddling influence between the US and China are nothing new, with the two powers saying the other has been trying to glean information and affect decision-making for decades.
The rhetoric has only grown stronger amid China’s rising global influence and emergence as a power that aims to rival Washington. Both sides have been stepping up arrests of individuals accused of working for foreign governments, with the military and technology sectors also increasingly being screened for espionage activity.
The most recent publicised clash came last year when the US said Chinese balloons flying over its territory were “clearly” meant for intelligence surveillance. China said they were weather balloons, and also accused the US of flying its own high-altitude balloons over Chinese airspace.
In a late January article in US magazine Foreign Affairs titled Spycraft and Statecraft, CIA Director William Burns said the spy agency is significantly bolstering its efforts to address geopolitical competition, specifically with China.
The Ministry of State Security of China responded by saying the CIA has more than doubled the percentage of its overall budget focused on China over just the last two years, claiming that Washington is hiring and training more Mandarin speakers and “expanding the confrontation against China”.
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