President Biden recently pardoned two Chinese intelligence operatives and a relative of a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party member who had been convicted of possessing tens of thousands of images of child pornography. The clemencies, which were part of a prisoner exchange with China, were revealed Thursday, sparking widespread public attention.
The individuals granted clemency include Yanjun Xu and Ji Chaoqun, both convicted of espionage, and Shanlin Jin, who was found guilty in 2021 of possessing over 47,000 images of child pornography while pursuing a doctorate at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. President Biden signed their pardons on November 22.
Five days later, on November 27, the Chinese government released three Americans held in Chinese prisons. Among them was Mark Swidan, a Texas businessman detained since 2012 on drug-related charges; Kai Li, imprisoned since 2016 on espionage accusations; and John Leung, who received a life sentence in 2023 for spying.
The revelation of the pardons for the Chinese nationals comes as federal authorities in New York have intensified efforts to combat Chinese espionage within state and local governments. In October, a report from the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Accountability criticized the Department of Justice for what it described as insufficient enforcement of national security laws against the CCP and its agents.
“DOJ is insufficiently enforcing national security laws against the CCP and its proxies,” the report stated.
Xu was a senior intelligence officer in the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), responsible for targeting American aviation companies to steal trade secrets. He became the first Chinese intelligence operative to be extradited to the U.S. for prosecution. In 2021, a federal jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit economic espionage, trade secret theft, and related offenses. The following year, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal court in Cincinnati.
Court documents detailed how Xu used aliases, front companies, and universities to deceive employees of U.S. aviation firms, including GE Aviation, and obtain sensitive information. He and his colleagues also hacked the computers of aviation employees staying in hotel rooms while distracting them with dinner invitations. Xu was arrested in Belgium in 2018 after arranging to meet an FBI agent posing as a GE Aviation employee to exchange confidential information.
The Department of Justice worked with Belgian authorities to secure Xu’s extradition to the U.S. Following Xu’s sentencing, Attorney General Merrick Garland commended the DOJ’s efforts.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates the seriousness of those crimes and the Justice Department’s determination to investigate and prosecute efforts by the Chinese government, or any foreign power, to threaten our economic and national security,” Garland said.
Xu collaborated with Ji Chaoqun, who was convicted of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, among other espionage charges. Ji, a resident of Chicago, was sentenced to eight years in prison last year.
Ji had been instructed by MSS officers in Jiangsu Province to recruit spies capable of accessing cutting-edge aerospace and satellite technology in the United States. In 2016, Ji joined the U.S. Army Reserves under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, which recruits foreign nationals with specialized skills. However, Ji concealed his ties to Chinese intelligence from U.S. authorities.
The arrests and convictions of Xu and Ji align with a broader crackdown on Chinese espionage activities in the United States. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, with espionage and money laundering. Sun allegedly accepted extravagant gifts from Chinese officials and used her position to further CCP objectives, including opposing recognition of Taiwan as an independent nation.
In another case, The Post exposed a covert Chinese police station operating in Lower Manhattan, which was reportedly used to monitor and intimidate Chinese dissidents in New York. Additionally, Gui’an Lin, a close associate of former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, was revealed to be a suspected Chinese agent working within high levels of the New York Police Department and City Hall.
Winnie Greco, a former Asian Affairs advisor to Mayor Eric Adams with strong connections to the CCP, resigned in October after the FBI raided her Bronx homes as part of an ongoing investigation.
{Matzav.com}