Chinese academic convicted of acting as foreign agent in US

7/8/2024 6:18

        A Chinese academic was convicted on Tuesday of illegally acting as a foreign agent in the United States by collecting information about New York-based
        activists supporting democracy in China and sharing his findings with Beijing.
        
        A jury found Wang Shujun guilty on four counts including acting as a foreign agent without notifying the U.S. attorney general and lying to U.S. authorities, following a week-long trial in Brooklyn federal court.
        
        Wang could face up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 9, 2025.
        
        Federal prosecutors said Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen, portrayed himself as a fierce opponent of the ruling Chinese Communist Party to gain the trust of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, advocates for Taiwanese independence and campaigners for Uyghur and Tibetan rights.
        
        Prosecutors said Wang was actually spying on the activists and sharing his findings with four officials in China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), an intelligence service.