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Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace announced the indictment last week.
By Forum Staff
An indictment was recently returned in federal court in Brooklyn charging Shujun Wang, a U.S. citizen and Flushing resident, and four officials from China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), with conspiracy and other charges related to an espionage and transnational repression scheme. The four MSS officers are Feng He, also known as “Boss He,” Jie Ji, Ming Li, also known as “Elder Tang” and “Little Li,” and
Keqing Lu, also known as “Boss Lu.”
Wang was previously arrested on March 16; he will be arraigned at a later date. He, Ji, Li, and Lu remain at large.
Wang, 73, is a well-known academic and author who helped start a pro-democracy organization in Flushing that opposes the current communist regime in China. However, as alleged, since at least 2011, Wang has used his position and status within the Chinese diaspora and dissident communities to covertly collect information about prominent activists and human rights leaders on behalf of the MSS and PRC. He, Ji, Li, and Lu acted as Wang’s handlers, directing Wang to target specific individuals and groups that the PRC considers subversive, such as Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, advocates for Taiwanese independence, and Uyghur and Tibetan activists, and obtain information on particular topics and matters of importance to the MSS.
As alleged in the indictment, Wang communicated and provided information to the MSS, including to He, Ji, Li, and Lu, by using encrypted messaging applications and emails, as well as during face-to-face meetings in the PRC. Wang often memorialized the information he collected in email “diaries” to be accessed by the MSS. These “diaries” included details about Wang’s private conversations with prominent dissidents, as well as the activities of pro-democracy activists and human rights organizations. A search of Wang’s residence incident to his arrest revealed approximately 163 “diary” entries Wang wrote to He, Ji, Li, and Lu and other MSS officials.
For example, in one series of communications on or about Nov. 22, 2016, Ji instructed Wang to interface with a particular attendee at an upcoming pro-democracy event and to “accomplish the task” assigned by the “Boss,” referring to Lu. Ji noted that the attendee of interest had contacts with “Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians” and wished Wang good luck at getting “good results.” In another exchange on or about Nov. 16, 2016, Wang informed Li that he “just finished chatting” with a prominent human rights activist, noting that he asked the “necessary questions” and received “candid” answers. Li responded “great” and with a thumbs-up emoji, instructing Wang to write it in a “diary.” At least one Hong Kong democracy activist and dissident that Wang reported on to the MSS, identified as “Hong Kong Dissident #1” in the indictment, was subsequently arrested by the PRC.
In addition to this conduct, the indictment alleges that Wang transferred to the MSS and possessed telephone numbers and contact information belonging to Chinese dissidents, as well as made materially false statements to federal law enforcement, falsely denying that he had contacts with PRC officials or the MSS.
“Today’s indictment exposes and disrupts an operation by the PRC that threatens the safety and freedom of Chinese nationals residing in the United States on account of their pro-democracy beliefs and speech,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.
