The Chinese consulate in San Francisco houses a biology investigator who falsely denied connections to the Chinese military to obtain a visa and gain access to the country, according to court documents filed by the FBI.
The presentation came as part of a document citing a series of other episodes in which Chinese citizens allegedly lied in their visa applications by concealing their military connections.
Tang Juan, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, stated in his J-1 visa application that “she had never served in the military, but the open source investigation revealed photographs of her in the EPL Civilian Uniform. [People’s Liberation Army], and who had worked as a researcher at the Air Force University of Military Medicine, which is another name for FMMU [Fourth Military Medical University]”said the FBI.
Then, during an interview with FBI agents on June 20, Tang “denied having served in the Chinese military, asserting that he did not know the meaning of the badge on his uniform, and that it was necessary to wear a military uniform to attend FMMU because it was a military school. “
READ THE COURT DOCUMENTS
The FBI revealed that it then immediately executed a search warrant at Tang’s home and found additional evidence of Tang PLA affiliation.
“The FBI evaluates that, at some point after Tang’s search and interview on June 20, 2020, Tang went to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, where the FBI evaluates that she has stayed,” the office announced.
There was evidence in at least one case “of a military scientist copying or stealing information from US institutions under the leadership of military superiors in China,” the office continued. The court documents contained similar evidence against several other Chinese scientists.
Chen Song, for example, was an “active-duty military scientist in the People’s Liberation Army who lied to enter the United States, tried to destroy evidence, and lied extensively to the FBI when interviewed,” the government wrote in indictment documents.
“The defendant’s case is not isolated, but appears to be part of a program carried out by the PLA, and specifically, FMMU or partner institutions, to send military scientists to the United States with false pretenses with false covers or false statements about his real job, “said the FBI, referring to Chen Song. Another case involves an alleged spy who works for UCSF.
Meanwhile, the United States has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, increasing tensions among the world’s largest economies as President Trump has stepped up punitive measures against China ahead of the November US election. Beijing denounced the order on Wednesday as “scandalous” and said it would generate a firm response if it is not reversed.
The physical closure of the consulate, one of China’s six missions to the United States, marked a dramatic step in increasingly contentious relations that have been strained not only by the coronavirus pandemic but also by disputes over trade, human rights , Hong Kong and Chinese assertiveness. in the South China Sea.
CHINA THREATENS RETALIATION AFTER WE CLOSE THE EMBASSY
Previous Trump administration measures against Chinese officials, students, and investigators have included travel bans, registration requirements, and other steps aimed at reducing the country’s footprint in the United States. The administration has also announced its outright rejection of virtually all Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea.
These actions occurred when Trump tried to blame China for the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., where cases skyrocketed. Trump himself said there could be more closings if China doesn’t change its behavior. “It is always possible,” he told reporters at the White House.
The Chinese Consulate General in Houston. Police and fire officials responded to reports that documents were burned in the consulate yard Tuesday night, according to the Houston Police Department. (AP Photo / John Mone)
The State Department announced that it ordered the consulate closed within 72 hours after alleging that Chinese agents have attempted to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the state-wide Texas A&M medical system and the MD Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas at Houston.
There were indications that consulate staff were preparing to leave: documents were burned on the consulate grounds Tuesday night, a common practice when a diplomatic post is closed on short notice.
Cai Wei, the Chinese Consul General, told KTRK-TV in Houston that the closing order was “quite wrong” and “very damaging” to relations between the United States and China.
When asked about the allegations of espionage and data theft, Cai said: “You have to give some evidence, say some of the facts … Knowing Americans, you have the rule of law, you are not guilty until prove otherwise. “
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that the closure was “to protect American intellectual property and the private information of Americans.”
A fire truck in front of the Chinese Consulate in Houston on Wednesday. (AP Photo / David J. Phillip)
“The United States will not tolerate (China’s) violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated unfair (Chinese) business practices, theft of American jobs and other egregious behavior,” he said.
In testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State Stephen Biegun regretted that today’s relations have been “affected by an increasing number of disputes”, including commercial espionage, theft of intellectual property and unequal treatment of diplomats, companies and journalists.
Those factors led to Trump’s action, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Justice Department on Tuesday announced the allegations of two Chinese hackers accused of trying to steal pharmaceutical secrets from US companies related to the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in China. Although there were no indications that the accusations and the consulate’s action were related, the United States has long alleged that China has been involved in nefarious activities across the country, including from its Houston consulate.
Even before the United States announced the shutdown, which was privately broadcast to the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday, China strongly condemned him.
“The unilateral closure of the Chinese consulate general in Houston in a short period of time is an unprecedented escalation of its recent actions against China,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. He warned of firm countermeasures if the United States does not reverse itself.
Wang accused the United States of opening Chinese diplomatic exchanges without permission multiple times, confiscating Chinese items for official use and imposing restrictions on Chinese diplomats starting last October and again in June. She also said that US diplomats in China participated in infiltration activities.
In Houston, firefighters responded to reports that documents were burned on the consulate grounds Tuesday night, but were barred from entering. On Wednesday afternoon, consulate staff could be seen loading cleaning supplies and paper products into a van parked outside the building. A U-Haul truck was also parked outside the consulate
The first responders “were told that people inside the consulate were burning paperwork because they were in the process of being evacuated from the building,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Foreign diplomatic missions have operated under legal immunities agreed to by international law and cannot enter without permission. However, the destruction of confidential documents in a facility that has been ordered or forced to close on short notice, including US missions, was not unusual. Most recently in the United States, Russia’s consulate in San Francisco made headlines for burning large amounts of material when it was ordered closed in 2017.
In addition to diplomatic ramifications, the closure of the Houston consulate could make it difficult for China to provide assistance to its citizens in the southern United States and to American citizens seeking visas and other services there.
In addition to its embassy in Washington and its mission to the United Nations in New York, China has consulates in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. In an apparent attempt to prevent the reciprocal closure of a U.S. diplomatic mission in China, the State Department told the Chinese that it would not reopen its consulate in Wuhan, two U.S. officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly told The Associated Press. anonymously
The US consulate in Wuhan was closed in late January at the height of the coronavirus outbreak that started there, but the State Department had informed Congress in early June that it planned to reopen it, possibly this summer.
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In addition to Wuhan, the United States has four other consulates in China, in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenyang, along with its embassy in Beijing and a consulate general in Hong Kong.
Reflecting on China’s economic importance, a Houston business group expressed regret over the announcement, saying the consulate has been important in building commercial, investment and cultural ties. He noted that the Houston consulate was the first Chinese one in the United States when it opened in 1979.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
