A Chinese-American pro-democracy activist based in New York City has been charged with spying on fellow dissidents for the Chinese government, according to an indictment unsealed last week in Manhattan federal court, New York Post reports.
Yuanjun Tang, 67, who resides in Flushing, is accused of secretly working for the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) from 2018 to 2023 and conspiring to act as a foreign agent without proper registration with US authorities.
The indictment claims that one of Tang’s targets was a congressional candidate who ultimately dropped out of the race, citing a smear campaign as the reason. Among his alleged activities, Tang collected information on individuals and groups perceived by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as threats, specifically US-based Chinese democracy activists and dissidents.
Tang’s prior history includes being imprisoned in China following the deadly 1989 pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square. After defecting to Taiwan in 2002, he was granted political asylum in the U.S., where he became actively involved with fellow Chinese dissidents, regularly protesting against the Chinese government, including participating in monthly demonstrations outside the Chinese consulate in Manhattan.
However, court documents allege that Tang had been working against those interests by gathering intelligence to send back to the Chinese government.
“Specifically, Tang regularly provided information he had gathered about individuals and groups viewed by the PRC as potentially adverse to its interests,” the complaint said.
One notable target mentioned in the indictment is Xiong Yan, a pro-democracy activist and Iraqi war veteran who ran for Congress in Brooklyn in 2022. Yan has stated that he suspected he was being spied on by unregistered Chinese agents and revealed to The Post that he had faced a smear campaign that harmed his fundraising efforts, including being set up with a prostitute.
The allegations against Tang are part of a broader pattern of Chinese surveillance efforts, known as “Operation Foxhunt,” wherein Chinese agents reportedly spy on their own nationals abroad. According to Safeguard Defenders, a Madrid-based non-profit, there are approximately 100 clandestine Chinese police stations operating around the world, including an unofficial one in New York City.
Between 2019 and 2023, Tang allegedly traveled to Macau and China for face-to-face meetings with his handlers. In exchange for cash, he provided information regarding pro-democracy events in the U.S. In April 2022, court papers allege that Tang met with an MSS officer who installed surveillance software on his phone, allowing all photos and videos taken with the device to be transmitted directly to the MSS.
Using the compromised phone, Tang reportedly photographed an event at the opening of the June 4th Memorial Museum, which commemorates the Tiananmen Square massacre, and sent the image to the MSS. The museum opened last year on the fourth floor of an office building in Herald Square, following the closure of its original location in Hong Kong by authorities in 2021.
