NewsFinale
  • Home
  • News
  • Local News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Celeb Lifestyle
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Advertise Here
Gleammour AquaFresh
NewsFinale
  • Home
  • News
  • Local News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Celeb Lifestyle
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Advertise Here
Home Local News Academic avoids jail time in US lawsuit accusing China of spying on overseas critics

Academic avoids jail time in US lawsuit accusing China of spying on overseas critics

Scholar spared prison in US case alleging China spies on dissidents abroad
Up next
Manchester United is searching for Doue, while Barcelona is preparing for a bid of €400 million for Yamal.
Published on 14 April 2025
Author
NewsFinale Journal
Share and Follow
FacebookXRedditPinterestWhatsApp


NEW YORK – A Chinese American scholar convicted of spying on Chinese dissidents was spared prison time Monday by a U.S. judge.

Shujun Wang was sentenced by U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin to time served and three years’ supervised release, according to attorneys. Wang has been free on bail since the day of his arrest.

Wang, 76, was convicted last summer of charges including conspiring to act as an illegal foreign agent.

With a story that federal prosecutors have described as akin to a spy novel, the case is part of their portfolio on what Washington views as ” transnational repression ” by authoritarian governments targeting critics abroad. The Chinese government has said it’s being slandered by the “malicious fabrication of the so-called ‘transnational suppression’ narrative.”

A Chinese-born American citizen, Wang was a history professor in his homeland. He became a visiting fellow at Columbia University for a time in the 1990s and emigrated to the U.S., where he wrote books and co-founded a pro-democracy group in New York City.

Prosecutors portrayed Wang’s advocacy as a facade that garnered him credibility with sincere activists, allowing him to gather information on Hong Kong democracy protesters, supporters of Taiwanese independence, Uyghur and Tibetan activists and others.

He relayed the intel to China’s main intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security, in the form of emails styled as “diaries,” according to prosecutors and trial evidence. The messages concerned demonstrations planned during Chinese President Xi Jinping’ s visits to the U.S., anniversary events for the 1989 protests and bloody crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, and more.

Wang also met with ministry officials on trips to China, according to prosecutors and evidence.

One activist and fellow academic mentioned in the “diaries,” Ming Xia, told the court in a letter that he’d altered his daily routine as a result. Another activist, Anna Yeung-Cheung, wrote that Wang’s “betrayal not only damaged personal bonds and shattered our collective trust but also exacerbated harmful stereotypes that depict Chinese and Asian Americans as potential spies.”

Another figure in the “diaries” — Juntao Wang, an academic and dissident who spent years in prison in China — said he knew about Shujun Wang’s Chinese Communist Party connections but still appreciated his work with the pro-democracy movement.

“From the perspective of traditional Chinese political culture and contemporary Chinese politics, his dual identity is a common and understandable phenomenon,” he wrote to the court. Saying that some genuine supporters of democracy also deal with Chinese officials to gain some benefits, he asked for a short sentence for Shujun Wang.

Shujun Wang told FBI agents in interviews that his communiqués were just accounts of publicly available tidbits.

In a New York Times Magazine interview after his conviction, he at times called the diaries a hobby and said he hadn’t known his contacts in China worked for the security agency. At other points, he acknowledged sharing information with Chinese officials and said he was just trying to promote democracy to the Communist government, according to the magazine.

Wang’s attorney, Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, called Judge Chin’s sentence a “wise” decision.

“It appropriately recognized that his conduct was not driven by any financial motive and did limited, if any harm,” said Margulis-Ohnuma, who also noted that Wang has multiple health problems.

In court papers, Margulis-Ohnuma said the case didn’t depict a debonair spy but rather “an aging democracy activist — lonesome and starved for attention, eager to please and always delighted to engage — who occasionally provided mostly-useless information to the Chinese government and lied about it as he became older, more impaired and more isolated.”

___

Hill reported from Albany, New York.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Share and Follow
FacebookXRedditPinterestWhatsApp
You May Also Like
Beaufort County School District announces new Beaufort Middle principal
  • Local News

Introducing the New Principal of Beaufort Middle School in Beaufort County School District

BEAUFORT, S.C. () — The Beaufort County School District (BCSD) named Beaufort…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
Gov. McMaster deploys South Carolina team to help with Texas flood response
  • Local News

South Carolina Governor Sends Team to Assist with Texas Flooding Situation

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – Governor Henry McMaster will deploy South Carolina Task…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
Central Illinois family farms picking, selling corn until sold out
  • Local News

“Central Illinois Family Farms Harvesting and Selling Corn Until Inventory Depleted”

CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Family farms all over Central Illinois are starting…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
A deadly 1987 flood scarred the same Texas county that is reeling through another disaster
  • Local News

A devastating flood in 1987 left a mark on a Texas county now facing another disaster.

Cindy Manley was a summer camp counselor in 1987 when a different…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
Trump hosts West African leaders as the region reels from US aid cuts
  • Local News

Donald Trump meets with leaders from West Africa while the area struggles from reduced assistance from the United States

DAKAR – U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting five West African leaders…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
Beaufort County locals reject proposed immigration task force
  • Local News

Locals in Beaufort County oppose the idea of an immigration task force

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. () — Over 100 residents packed the Beaufort County…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
First Barbie with Type 1 diabetes unveiled
  • Local News

First Barbie with Type 1 diabetes unveiled

NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel has introduced its first Barbie representing a…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
State sweep removes more than 20,000 illegal hemp packages from Central Florida, officials say
  • Local News

Officials in Central Florida have removed over 20,000 illegal hemp packages in a recent enforcement operation.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services removed…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 9, 2025
Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, 'Fantastic Four' cast greet Marvel fans at Berlin press tour stop
  • US

Marvel fans in Berlin get greeted by Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, and the cast of ‘Fantastic Four’ during press tour.

LOS ANGELES — The world is rolling out the red carpet for…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 10, 2025
Man stabs girlfriend to death, chops up her body: Cops
  • Crime

Police say man fatally stabs girlfriend, dismembers her body

Left: Willie McCoo (Seattle Department of Corrections). Right: Kiara Sewell (GoFundMe).…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 10, 2025
Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Melania Trump at a state funeral.
  • News

‘Truth’ behind Donald Trump and Barack Obama’s friendly talk at Jimmy Carter’s funeral as laughter stunned onlookers

THE truth behind President Donald Trump and rival Barack Obama’s cheery…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 10, 2025
Rhode Island man charged for allegedly threatening to kill Trump, other administration officials
  • US

Rhode Island man charged for allegedly threatening to kill Trump, other administration officials

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A Rhode Island man…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • July 10, 2025
NewsFinale Journal
  • Home
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Sitemap
  • DMCA
  • Advertise Here
  • Donate