Trial of Queens man accused of spying for Chinese government begins
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A Queens man accused of spying on behalf of the Chinese government began in Brooklyn federal court this week. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzesse
By Noah Powelson
The trial for Shujun Wang, a 75-year-old man living in Queens accused of secretly acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China, started this week in Brooklyn federal court.
Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen who immigrated to the U.S. in 1996, is the co-founder of Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang Memorial Foundation in Flushing, which prosecutors claim he used as a front to collect information on PCR critics and dissenters.
The four-count indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, on May 15, 2022, accused Wang of using his position at the Memorial Foundation to gather information on Chinese dissidents, activists, and academics in the U.S. and China, and report his findings to China’s Ministry of State Security.
He is charged with conspiracy, acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the attorney general, criminal use of identification, and giving false statements to the FBI during the investigation. Wang has pleaded not guilty to all four charges.
The Memorial Foundation was established around 2005 by Wang alongside Chen Yizi, former director of the China Institute of Economic System Reform, and many other well-known PCR dissidents. The Memorial Foundation was a nonprofit organization whose founders were open critics of the Chinese government and advocated for PCR economic reform. Federal prosecutors allege that while Wang claimed to be a pro-democracy activist, in reality he used his position at the Memorial Foundation and influence in the Chinese community to report on dissenters of the PCR to the MSS. The indictment also lists four MMS officials as co-defendants, who are currently believed to be in China, and are accused of acting as Wang’s handlers.
“As alleged, Wang acted as a covert intelligence asset in his own community,” said Peace in May 2022, when Wang’s indictment was first unsealed. “Spying on and reporting sensitive information on prominent pro-democracy activists and organizations to his co-defendants: members of the Chinese government’s Ministry of State Security.”
Prosecutors allege Wang communicated his reports on dissenters to MSS agents primarily through “diary” entries, emails that described his daily activities that were either sent over the internet or left as a draft where another user could access them later without them being sent. The indictment alleges multiple IP addresses from across the world had accessed Wang’s email account where his diaries were found. Wang is also accused of providing reports through encrypted messages and face-to-face interactions with his handlers on trips to China.
The alleged victims of Wang’s information gathering included prominent activists and those the PCR considers subversive, such as Hong Kong democracy protestors, Taiwanese independence advocates, as well as Uyghur and Tibetan activists. Wang also allegedly kept his handlers informed of pro-democracy group activity in Flushing and provided analysis of current anti-PCR sentiment in his community.
The indictment also says that at least one activist Wang reported on to the MSS had been arrested by PRC authorities.
Wang was arrested on March 16, 2022 and has denied all claims made by the prosecution.
Wang’s trial began on Monday with jury selection and is expected to run through next Wednesday, Aug. 7.
If convicted of the charges, Wang faces up to 25 years in prison.
