China

AP News - A former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged Tuesday with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors revealed in a sprawling indictment. Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government before rising to the rank of deputy chief of staff for Hochul, was arrested Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $3.5 million home on Long Island. Prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level officials in New York state, altered state governmental messaging on issues related to the Chinese government and attempted to facilitate a trip to China for a high-level politician in New York, among other things. Hu is charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.

Washington Post - Chinese diplomats and pro-China diaspora groups based in the United States organized demonstrations in San Francisco that harassed and silenced protesters opposed to Beijing’s policies, including through violence, during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the city in November, a six-month investigation by The Washington Post shows.

The events in San Francisco illustrate how the Chinese Communist Party is willing to extend its intolerance of any dissent into the United States and target people exercising their First Amendment rights in an American city. It is part of a broader global pattern of China attempting to reach beyond its borders and suppress parts of its diaspora advocating against the CCP and ongoing rights abuses in Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and mainland China, the U.S. government and human rights groups say.