Federal prosecutors in New York arrested a Chinese dissident living in the U.S., accusing him of covertly working for China's intelligence agency and spying on pro-democracy activist groups.

According to a press release from the U.S. Justice Department, Yuanjun Tang, 67, was charged with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and making materially false statements to the FBI. 

Authorities allege Tang has been spying on the U.S. since 2018 and acted upon the direction of China's intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS).

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Tang defected to Taiwan in 2002 after he was imprisoned for protesting the one-party authoritarian political system controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

After defecting to Taiwan, he was subsequently granted asylum in the U.S. and lived in New York City.

Federal agents said between 2018 and about June 2023, Tang acted as an agent of the PRC by completing tasks at the direction of the MSS.

Authorities said Tang relayed information to the PRC about U.S.-based Chinese democracy organizations. 

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He also traveled "at least" three times for face-to-face meetings with MSS intelligence officers and assisted the officers in joining encrypted messaging applications used by PRC dissidents and pro-democracy activists.

During the investigation into Tang's spying activities, federal authorities say they recovered instructions that he had received from the MSS, including photographs, videos and documents.

Tang also made materially false statements to the FBI, federal authorities said. He allegedly falsely claimed that he was no longer able to access an email account through which he had communicated with his MSS handler through draft emails.

Tang was charged with one count of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the attorney general, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison; one count of acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the attorney general, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. 

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If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI is continuing to investigate.