President Biden pardoned two Chinese spies and the relative of a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party who was caught with tens of thousands of images of child pornography on his computer last month in a prisoner swap between the two countries that was made public Thursday when the three received clemencies.
Yanjun Xu and Ji Chaoqun, who were both convicted of espionage, were granted clemency last month, along with Shanlin Jin, who was convicted of possession of more than 47,000 images of child pornography while a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 2021.
Their clemencies, signed by President Biden, are dated Nov. 22
Five days later, on November 27, the Chinese government released three Americans who were serving prison sentences in the Communist country: Mark Swidan, a businessman from Texas, who was arrested in 2012 and accused of drug related offenses; Kai Li, who had been held since 2016 on espionage charges; and John Leung, who was sentenced in 2023 to life in prison on spying charges.
The news of the pardons for the Chinese nationals comes comes months after federal authorities in New York have cracked down on alleged Chinese spies in both state and local governments, and a Congressional committee has blasted the Department of Justice for its lack of enforcement against Chinese espionage in the country.
“DOJ is insufficiently enforcing national security laws against the CCP and its proxies,” said an October report from the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Xu was the first Chinese government intelligence officer ever to be extradited to the US to stand trial for targeting US aviation companies to steal technology, according to a DOJ press release. He was convicted by a federal jury in 2021 on conspiracy to commit economic espionage and conspiracy to commit trade theft, among other charges. The career intelligence officer who was a director of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, the country’s main intelligence and security agency, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal court in Cincinnati a year later.
According to court documents, Xu began targeting US companies, including GE Aviation, in 2013, using aliases, front companies and universities to deceive employees at aviation companies and collect information. Xu also worked with other Chinese agents to hack computers in hotel rooms while his “guests” — aviation company employees — were taken to dinner.
In one case, he invited an employee of GE Aviation to China to give a presentation about the company at a Chinese university. When the employee returned to the US, an FBI agent began posing as the employee. Xu was arrested in Belgium in 2018 where he had arranged to meet with the employee to exchange information, court papers say.
Xu was extradited to the US with the help of the Belgian Federal Police, according to the DOJ press release.
After Xu’s sentencing, Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the DOJ. “Today’s sentence demonstrates the seriousness of those crimes and the Justice Department’s determination to investigate and prosecute efforts by the Chinese government, or any foreign power to threaten our economic and national security.”
Xu worked together with Ji Chaoqun who was found guilty of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, among other espionage charges, and sentenced to eight years in prison last year.
Ji, who lived in Chicago, worked at the direction of intelligence officers in the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, a department within MSS. Xu assigned him to recruit other spies for the operation to obtain access to advanced aerospace and satellites being developed by companies in the US, according to a DOJ press release.
In 2016, Ji enlisted in the US Army Reserves under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, which allowed the US military to recruit foreigners whose skills are deemed vital to the national interest. Ji failed to disclose his connection to Chinese intelligence, court papers say.
Earlier this year, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn hit a former aide to New York State governor Kathy Hochul with a host of espionage and money laundering charges. Linda Sun received lavish gifts from Chinese officials and used her position as a mid to upper level staffer in New York government to help advance China’s agenda in the US. At one point she allegedly worked to stop state officials from recognizing Taiwan as an independent country.
In New York City, The Post revealed a Chinese police station in Lower Manhattan that was part of a CCP directive to harass and spy on Chinese dissidents in the city.
The Post also revealed an alleged Chinese agent among the highest ranks of the New York Police Department as well as City Hall. Gui’an Lin worked as the right-hand of former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban.
Winnie Greco, a former Asian Affairs aide to Mayor Eric Adams with high-level ties to the CCP, resigned in October, months after her homes in the Bronx were raided by the FBI.
