The FBI, on Thursday, charged four Chinese nationals for visa fraud and allegedly lying about them being part of China’s armed forces.
Three are under arrest while authorities are seeking to arrest the fourth, who is said to be in China's San Francisco consulate. The FBI is accusing the consulate of harbouring the suspect.
The four individuals charged with visa fraud are Wang Xin, Song Chen, Zhao Kaikai and Tang Juan. Ms Juan is thought to be in the San Francisco consulate. Of these, Song Chen and Zhao Kaikai were arrested on July 18. Wang Zin was arrested on June 7 after undergoing questioning by Customs and Border Protection agents of Los Angeles International Airport.
All the Chinese nationals are said to have lied about their service in the PLA. As per authorities, Ms Chen claimed to be a neurologist who had left the armed forces but in reality was still affiliated with PLA Air Force hospitals in China, while Zhao Kaikai claimed never to have served in the military but in fact, was a member of a top PLA research institution.
FBI agents have also interviewed people in 25 US cities who have an “undeclared affiliation” with China's military, a BBC report reads.
According to the FBI, they engaged in research activities. One of them was working as a researcher at Stanford University. As per prosecutors, it is part of a Chinese plan to send army scientists to the US to steal classified information.
US officials have ordered the closure of China’s mission on Houston by alleging that it was stealing intellectual property.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday indicated a possibility of shutting more Chinese consulates in the US.
Relations between China and the US have been strained since 2018 when the two nations became involved in a trade war. In late 2019, after the coronavirus broke out in China, President Trump has been accusing China of not being transparent about the origins of the virus. China is also angered against the US over its boycott of Huawei technology for 5G network.
Besides this, recently, US imposed trade sanctions on China for mistreatment of Uighur Muslims in the country and imposed sanctions on high-ranking officials of China’s Communist Party for the enactment of the national security law on Hong Kong, which undermines its semi-autonomous state. China is also angered at the US for its ‘interfering’ in its claim over the South China Sea.
As per a CNN report, top officials in the United States have escalated their public condemnations of China in the last several weeks, with speeches by FBI Director Chris Wray, Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
After Washington’s surprise order for China to close its Houston consulate, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for an end to “blind engagement” with China. He also repeated frequently levelled US charges about its unfair trade practices, human rights abuses and efforts to infiltrate American society.
On Thursday, before the arrests, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin described the US allegations as “malicious slander” and said China “must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights”.
