A naturalized U.S. citizen has pleaded guilty to charges he conspired to become an agent for the Chinese government, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
According to court filings, Yuanjun Tang, 68, is a former Chinese citizen who was imprisoned for his dissident activities opposing the Chinese Communist Party’s one-party rule, including his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. He defected to Taiwan in 2002 before being granted political asylum in the United States.
Tang has since lived in New York City, where he regularly joins events with fellow Chinese dissidents and leads a nonprofit focused on promoting democracy in China.
From at least 2018 through June 2023, Tang allegedly operated in the United States as an agent of China, carrying out assignments and collecting information at the direction of the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country’s main civilian intelligence agency.
The MSS oversees foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, espionage, and political security operations for Beijing, a DOJ press release noted.
Prosecutors say Tang took regular direction from an MSS intelligence officer, reporting on individuals and groups the Chinese government considered hostile to its interests — including prominent U.S.-based Chinese dissidents and democracy activists.
According to the filings, Tang relayed information on specific people flagged by the MSS, identifying, photographing, and recording participants at pro-democracy events in the United States. He also provided details ranging from contact information for New York immigration lawyers to explanations of the U.S. political asylum process.
Tang was paid for his work and traveled at least three times to Macau and mainland China for in-person meetings with MSS intelligence officers, during which he underwent questioning and polygraph tests.
At one meeting, he allowed the MSS to install an application on his cellphone to transmit photos and other data directly, and he accepted a laptop to facilitate further communication with the agency, the DOJ said.
Tang relied on numerous electronic devices and online platforms to gather and transmit information for the MSS, prosecutors said. Agents recovered encrypted instructions he received from the agency, along with photos, videos, and documents he compiled for transmission.
In addition to reporting on individuals and events, Tang allegedly assisted the MSS in infiltrating a group chat on an encrypted messaging app used by U.S.-based Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy activists to discuss democracy issues and criticize Beijing, said the DOJ.
Tang pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 29, 2026. A federal district judge will determine the punishment after weighing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the FBI office in New York City, the DOJ said.
Last month, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned about the threat of China and accused the Asian economic giant of attempting to seize the Panama Canal to go after the United States.
“The communist Chinese want to control politicians,” Hegseth said on Fox News. “They’re building infrastructure projects. They want to surveil. They want to take that canal. President Trump says, ‘Not on our watch,’ and we’re fighting back.”
Hegseth stated that the United States has been “asleep at the wheel.”
Hegseth touted additional progress in Panama, including an agreement on a joint declaration that will allow US warships and auxiliary ships to travel “first and free” via the canal. The two countries also reached an agreement on joint security activities.
Hegseth cited Panama’s withdrawal from China’s Belt and Road Initiative as evidence that the two countries are cooperating. Hegseth also complimented Trump’s efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement with Iran over its nuclear program.