Chinese Academic Faces Trial Over Alleged Espionage

U.S. prosecutors charged Chinese academic Wang Shujun with betraying U.S.-based dissidents to Beijing, claiming he acted as an illegal agent of China. Wang, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of spying on activists for China's Ministry of State Security. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Chinese academic Wang Shujun betrayed U.S.-based dissidents to Beijing, as the 76-year-old's trial on charges of being a foreign agent commenced on Monday. Defense lawyers, however, argue that Wang sought to bring democracy to communist China.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn claim Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen, leveraged his leadership among New York's pro-democracy Chinese diaspora to gather information on activists and relay it to China's Ministry of State Security (MSS). Prosecutor Ellen Sise stated, "He portrayed himself as an academic and activist against the Chinese government, but in reality, Wang Shujun acted as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, spying on New Yorkers for years."

Arrested in March 2022, Wang pleaded not guilty to four counts, including acting as a foreign agent without notifying the U.S. attorney general and lying to U.S. authorities. Prosecutors allege Wang's espionage activities, targeting Hong Kong and Taiwanese activists as well as Uyghur and Tibetan advocates, persisted from 2005 to 2022. Nevertheless, defense lawyer Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma contends Wang was not acting as an agent but sought MSS support for the pro-democracy movement. Wang faces up to 25 years if convicted, while four Chinese intelligence officers alleged to be his handlers remain at large in China.

(With inputs from agencies.)