A Queens man was found guilty on Tuesday of operating as a foreign agent and providing information to the Chinese government while posing as a pro-democracy dissident, according to officials.
Shujun Wang, 75, was found guilty by a jury of spying, using fake documents, and lying to law enforcement, according to authorities. He may spend up to 25 years behind bars.
According to the prosecution, Wang, a Chinese-American naturalized citizen of the US, pretended to be a dissident supporter of democracy while secretly gathering data on Chinese citizens residing in the US and sending it back to China. He was reportedly involved in the founding of Queens-based pro-democracy organizations like the Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang Memorial Foundation.
Prosecutors stated that he systematically collected data on Taiwanese activists, Uyghur and Tibetan dissidents, as well as local Hong Kong democracy protesters. Wang was also charged with using email “diaries” to publish material he learned from discussions he had in private with dissidents China views as enemies.
“Wang was willing to betray those who respected and trusted him,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “When confronted with his shameful conduct, the defendant lied to law enforcement, but today’s verdict revealed the truth of his crimes and now he will face the consequences.”
Wang’s case is the most recent in a series involving People’s Republic of China operatives. Three individuals were found guilty of stalking a family in New Jersey on behalf of China by prosecutors in New York’s Eastern District last year, and a covert Chinese police station suspected of operating in Chinatown was shut down. Earlier this year, a Chinese corporation was charged by the same authority for allegedly stealing trade secrets.
