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A Singapore man pleaded guilty in the United States to working as an agent for China, the latest incident in a growing confrontation between Washington and Beijing.
Jun Wei Yeo was accused of using his political consultancy in the United States as a front to collect information for Chinese intelligence, US officials say.
Separately, the United States said a Chinese investigator accused of concealing her ties to the Chinese military was detained.
China previously ordered the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu.
The move to shut down the diplomatic mission in the southwestern city was in response to the U.S. shutdown of the Chinese consulate in Houston.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the decision was made because China was “stealing” intellectual property.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded by saying the US move was based on “a hodgepodge of anti-Chinese lies.”
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Tensions between the two nuclear powers have increased over several key issues.
President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly clashed with Beijing over the trade and coronavirus pandemic, as well as China’s imposition of a controversial new security law in Hong Kong.
What is known about the Singaporean citizen?
Jun Wei Yeo, also known as Dickson Yeo, pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to working as an illegal agent of the Chinese government in 2015-19, the United States Department of Justice said in a statement.
He was previously accused of using his political consultancy in the country as a front to collect valuable, non-public information for Chinese intelligence.
In his guilty plea, he admitted to scouting for Americans with high-level security clearance and having them write reports for fake clients.
Yeo was arrested when he flew to the US in 2019.
And what about the arrested Chinese investigator?
The American investigators named the investigator as Juan Tang, 37.
She was among four Chinese citizens accused earlier this week of visa fraud for allegedly lying about serving in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Juan Tang was the last of the four detainees in California, after the United States accused the Chinese consulate in San Francisco of hosting it.
It was not immediately clear how she was arrested.
FBI agents have found photos of Juan Tang dressed in a military uniform and reviewed articles in China that identify his military affiliation, reports the Associated Press.
She quotes the University of California Davis as saying she left her job as a visiting researcher at the Department of Radiation Oncology in June.
Why is there tension between China and the United States?
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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping
There are a number of factors at play. US officials have blamed China for the worldwide spread of Covid-19. More specifically, President Donald Trump has alleged, without evidence, that the virus originated from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan.
And, in unsubstantiated statements, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in March that the US military may have brought the virus to Wuhan.
The United States and China have also been embroiled in a tariff war since 2018.
- Trade war between the United States and China in 300 words
Trump has long accused China of unfair trade practices and theft of intellectual property, but in Beijing there is a perception that the United States is trying to slow its rise as a world economic power.
The United States also imposed sanctions on Chinese politicians who it says are responsible for human rights violations against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. China is accused of mass arrests, religious persecution, and forced sterilization of Uighurs and others.
Beijing denies the allegations and has accused the United States of “serious interference” in its internal affairs.
How about Hong Kong?
The imposition by China of a radical security law also creates tensions in relations with the United States and the United Kingdom, which administered the territory until 1997.
In response, the United States revoked Hong Kong’s special trade status last week, allowing it to avoid tariffs on Chinese goods.
- China’s new law: why is Hong Kong concerned?
- Trump hits China with order in Hong Kong trade
The United States and the United Kingdom see the security law as a threat to the freedoms that Hong Kong has enjoyed under a 1984 agreement between China and the United Kingdom, before sovereignty returned to Beijing.
The United Kingdom has angered China by outlining a route to British citizenship for nearly three million Hong Kong residents.
China responded by threatening to stop recognizing a type of British passport (BNO) held by many of those living in Hong Kong.
