The Obama administration has admonished the Chinese government to cease its campaign of undercover agents operating in the U.S. to pressure expatriates to return to China.
The covert operation, codenamed "Operation Fox Hunt," is Beijing's global crusade to find and return Chinese fugitives, according to the New York Times. The Chinese agents are most likely entering the U.S. with tourist or trade visas and are not acknowledged as being in the country on official government business, further escalating tension between Washington and Beijing.
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a press conference during Obama's state visit to China, Nov. 12, 2014 in Beijing. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
American officials say they have evidence to show the covert Chinese agents are using strong-arm tactics in order to convince the fugitives to return to their country, including threats against their family members.
Steve Tsang, a senior fellow at the University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute, echoed that claim to the Times, adding that the threats against family members can oftentimes be "very imaginative."
The New York Times reported that the State Department's warning could be the catalyst for the FBI and Department of Homeland Security working to expel those agents from the U.S. Both government agencies reportedly have evidence of the Chinese agents operating within the country by monitoring the agents themselves and from reports from expatriates.
One fugitive American officials believe is being sought by Chinese agents is Ling Wancheng, who had been residing in a luxurious home in Sacramento, California. Wancheng, who is a successful and wealthy businessman, could become one of the most high-profile defectors in China's history should he choose to seek political asylum. According to the BBC, he is the exiled brother of a disgraced former top aide to former President Hu Jintao.
The former journalist also goes by the name Wang Cheng, according to the South China Morning Post.
Chinese media have reported that their government has deployed scores of young agents to persuade the expatriates to return, according to the New York Times. Liu Dong, an Operation Fox Hunt director, said last year that all agents must comply with local laws and will depend on the help and cooperation of the other countries' police. However, two Chinese law enforcement agents were caught operating in Australia without the country's permission in December.
Ling Wancheng (Image source: SCMP)
“Our principle is thus: Whether or not there is an agreement in place, as long as there is information that there is a criminal suspect, we will chase them over there, we will take our work to them, anywhere," Dong admitted.
“The government registered with China its deep concerns about this, making clear it was unacceptable,” a spokesperson for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in December.
Operation Fox Hunt is part of President Xi Jinping's bigger plan to crack down on corruption in the country, a plan that has been resoundingly popular with the Chinese people.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, China's law enforcement branch under which the clandestine agents operate, more than 930 fugitives have been brought back to China since 2014, including more than 70 who returned voluntarily.
Some of those fugitives have been accused of abuse of power, bribery, corruption or embezzlement, according to the International Business Times.
The Obama administration's warning comes a month before the U.S. will host the Chinese president for his first official state visit. Tensions between the two governments are already high due in part to escalating cyberattacks on U.S. government data.
(H/T: New York Times)
