How China turns members of its diaspora into spies
America is on the hunt for these non-traditional agents. But its efforts risk backfiring
AMONG EXILED Chinese dissidents, Tang Yuanjun was well known. He had taken part in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and landed in prison as a result. He later defected to Taiwan, swimming to one of its outlying islands from a fishing boat. America granted him asylum and he settled in New York, becoming the leader of Chinese pro-democracy groups. But in 2024 he was arrested by the FBI. He admits to having used his position to collect information for China and to report on his fellow activists. He did this so that officials in Beijing would allow him to return to China to see his ailing parents.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Amateur agents”
From the January 4th 2025 edition
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