Espionage Case: Chinese Dissident Arrested in USA for Spying

Yuanjun Tang, a former Chinese dissident, has been arrested in the USA on charges of espionage. He is accused of collecting information about democracy activists and dissidents as an agent of the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

Tang had participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and fled to Taiwan before seeking political asylum in the USA. He was charged with spying from 2018 to 2023 and is accused of lying to the FBI about his communication channels with the Chinese intelligence service.

China has firmly opposed the charges and described them as 'groundless slandering and smearing'. In a separate case, a Japanese citizen has been charged with espionage by Chinese authorities.

The individual, an employee of Astellas Pharma, has been detained since March 2023. The case has strained tensions between China and Japan, affecting foreign investment and Japanese expatriates in China. China has stated that it will protect the rights of those involved and facilitate the duties of Japanese consular officials.