US announces major crackdown on China’s international spy ring

More than a dozen Chinese government officials and intelligence officers have been charged with “malign schemes” in the US.

The US has arrested two alleged spies and charged another 11 in a major crackdown disrupting the Chinese Communist Party’s international espionage ring.

The dozen Chinese government officials and intelligence officers were charged with “malign schemes” in three separate cases in the United States.

It comes as the CCP’s chairman Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented “forever term”.

“The government of China sought to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the United States and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights. They did not succeed,” said US Attorney-General Merrick B Garland.

Two Chinese nationals were arrested in New York on October 20 for allegedly attempting to force a Chinese citizen to return to China, with another five charged in absence over the CCP’s covert “Operation Fox Hunt”.

The seven Chinese nationals allegedly attempted to coerce an American resident, and his son, by forcing their relative to relay the communist government’s threats.

Another two were charged in a separate case allegedly attempting to obstruct the criminal prosecution of a Chinese telecommunications company.

Xi Jinping waves after speaking at The Great Hall of People. Picture: Getty Images

In New Jersey, four Chinese nationals — including three Ministry of State Security (MSS) intelligence officers — were charged with a “long-running” intel campaign targeting Americans to spy for the People’s Republic of China.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the indictments of government officials and intelligence officers for trying to obstruct a US trial of a Chinese company, masquerading as university professors to steal sensitive information, and trying to strong-arm a victim into returning to China “expose the PRC’s outrageous behaviour within our own borders”.

In its failed scheme to obstruct the prosecution of Huawei Technologies Co., defendants Guochun He and Zheng Wang allegedly tried to bribe a US law enforcement official posing as a double agent.

Mr He and Mr Wang, believed to be in China, were part of the China’s attempts to shield the company from accountability, Mr Garland said.

Huawei has been considered a national security threat. Picture: AFP

The pair attempted to recruit the undercover agent with USD $61,000 worth of bitcoin to supply documents related to the case, witnesses, evidence and charges, according to the indictment.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the rule of law upon which our democracy is based,” Mr Garland told a press conference the day after Chairman Xi secured his historic third term.

Xi has been blamed by US officials for China’s efforts to steal US intellectual property and intimidate Chinese political dissidents in the United States.

In the third case, Chinese intel officers allegedly posed as academics at the fake Ocean University of China — referred to as the Institute for International Studies (IIS) — as cover for attempts to recruit Americans to spy for China.

XI JINPING SECURES HISTORIC ‘FOREVER TERM’

Chinese President Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader in decades, has increased his dominance after being named to a third term as head of the ruling Communist Party.

The party’s Central Committee elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term, bringing the country closer to one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite.

Xi, who took power in 2012, was awarded a third five-year term as general secretary, discarding a custom under which his predecessor left after 10 years.

Xi, 69, is expected to stay in power for the rest of his life, putting him closer to an emperor than a political head of state.

He is now the most powerful leader since Communist Party founder Mao Zedong.

Xi abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to govern indefinitely.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has secured a third and unprecedented term as ruler. Picture: Getty Images

Xi secured the unprecedented third term as China’s leader on Sunday, local time, and filled his inner circle with close allies, achieving complete dominance over the ruling Communist Party.

“I wish to thank the whole party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us,” Xi told journalists at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People after the closed-door vote was announced.

Xi was also reappointed head of China’s Central Military Commission, keeping him in charge of the People’s Liberation Army.

He is all but certain to sail through to a third term as the country’s president, due to be formally announced during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.

In a wide-ranging acceptance speech on Sunday, Xi made signature remarks celebrating China’s rise as a global power and its success under his rule.

“The world needs China,” Xi said.

“After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles – rapid economic development and long-term social stability.”

General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and members of the new Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China at The Great Hall of People in Beijing, China. Picture: Getty Images

Six of Xi’s proteges and allies were also unveiled on Sunday alongside him as members of the Politburo Standing Committee – the party’s apex of power that rules the country.

Li Qiang – a former chief of staff for Xi who oversaw a gruelling two-month Covid lockdown in Shanghai this year – was named as number two in the Standing Committee.

This means he is likely to take over as premier from Li Keqiang, a former Xi rival who will retire next year.

Close aide Ding Xuexiang and Guangdong party chief Li Xi, a longtime confidante of the president, were among other allies named in the Standing Committee.

“The new Politburo Standing Committee confirms decisively that Xi has consolidated power at the top of the Communist Party to an extent unseen since the Mao era,” said Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at Eurasia Group.

“Xi has installed allies onto all seven seats of the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, allowing him to dominate the political system for the foreseeable future.”

Li Xi, Cai Qi, Zhao Leji, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Wang Huning and Ding Xuexiang. Picture: Getty Images

Alfred Wu Muluan, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore, said: “It is all Xi’s people, signalling he wants to rule even beyond a third term.”

Xi was swiftly congratulated on Sunday by some of China’s allies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The United States offered no immediate response.

Sunday’s announcements came after a week-long Congress of 2,300 hand-picked party delegates during which they endorsed Xi’s “core position” in the leadership and approved a sweeping reshuffle that saw Li and other former Xi rivals relegated.

On Saturday the delegates elected the Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials, who on Sunday chose the 24-person Politburo and the Standing Committee.

The Politburo will have no women members for the first time in 25 years.