New York: Yuanjun Tang, a 68-year-old resident of Flushing, Queens, has admitted to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the United States.
According to United States Department of Justice, Tang, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from the PRC, was once imprisoned in China for his dissident activities opposing the one-party political system led by the Chinese Communist Party. He participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations and later defected to Taiwan in 2002. Subsequently, Tang was granted political asylum in the United States and has since been living in New York City. There, he engaged in activities with fellow PRC dissidents and led a nonprofit organization focused on promoting democracy in China.
From at least 2018 until June 2023, Tang operated in the United States as an agent for the PRC by gathering intelligence and carrying out tasks directed by the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), the leading civilian intelligence agency responsible for the PRC’s foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, espionage, and political security.
Tang pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General. This offense carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Sentencing is set for January 29, 2026, and a federal district court judge will determine Tang’s sentence after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory considerations.
The FBI’s New York Field Office is conducting the investigation into this case. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Yumi Chong for the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Sean O’Dowd from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
