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SINGAPORE: Dickson Yeo, a Singaporean who recruited US officials to provide classified defense and political information to China was arrested after returning to Singapore on Wednesday (December 30), the Department of Homeland Security (ISD) said.
“Mr. Dickson Yeo has returned to Singapore on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 and was arrested by ISD under the Internal Security Act on the same day,” the ISD said.
Yeo will be interviewed by the ISD to establish whether he participated in activities detrimental to Singapore’s security, the agency said.
READ: How a Singaporean man went from being a NUS PhD student to working for Chinese intelligence in the US
Yeo had admitted in US federal court to working for Chinese intelligence for monetary rewards. He has also revealed to US investigators that his previous intelligence work was directed to states other than the United States.
He was sentenced to 14 months in prison by a US court on October 9.
Yeo was given a relatively light sentence and credited for the 11 months she had already spent in prison due to her cooperation with US authorities and also the threat of contracting COVID-19 in jail, the judge said at the time. Washington Federal Tanya Chutkan.
On July 26, the Singapore Ministry of the Interior (MHA) said that US authorities informed it of Yeo’s arrest in November last year.
MHA added that the investigations did not reveal any direct threat to Singapore’s security.
LEE: Singaporean Dickson Yeo imprisoned for 14 months in the US for spying for China
READ: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Cancels Dickson Yeo’s PhD Candidacy
“Singapore will not allow our citizens to be subverted or used by foreign actors for activities that harm our national security and interests,” the ISD said Wednesday.
“The government takes a very serious view of any Singaporean who enters into a clandestine relationship with a foreign government and engages in espionage or subversive activities at the behest of the foreign power.
“We will deal firmly with these people in accordance with our laws.”