Shujun Wang, a 75-year-old Chinese-American scholar who once championed himself as a pro-democracy activist, was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn on Tuesday for acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government. Wang’s case, which has been likened to the plot of a spy novel, reveals the depths of China’s espionage network within the United States.
For over a decade, Wang lived a double life, using his position within the Chinese-American community to gather intelligence on dissidents, which he then passed on to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), a powerful agency that operates as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) primary intelligence arm. “The indictment could have been the plot of a spy novel, but the evidence is shockingly real,” stated Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Wang, who settled in New York in the 1990s after his stint as a visiting scholar of East Asian studies, founded the Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang Memorial Foundation in 2006, a group dedicated to promoting China’s constitutional transformation. However, prosecutors revealed that Wang used his foundation as a cover to infiltrate the Chinese pro-democracy movement and collect information on individuals deemed undesirable by Beijing.
According to U.S. Attorney Ellen Sise, Wang “portrayed himself as an academic and a pro-democratic activist,” all while betraying the trust of those who confided in him. “Appearances can be deceiving,” Sise remarked during her opening statements.
Wang’s betrayal extended beyond gathering information. He regularly met with his handlers from the MSS, passing on details about activists through in-person meetings and written correspondence, including diaries that meticulously documented his interactions.
Wang’s conviction is part of a broader crackdown on Chinese espionage activities within the U.S. In recent years, numerous cases have surfaced, painting a troubling picture of the CCP’s relentless efforts to suppress dissent and maintain control over Chinese nationals abroad. The conviction underscores the lengths to which Beijing is willing to go to silence critics and gather intelligence on those who oppose its authoritarian regime.
