President Biden recently granted clemency to two Chinese spies and a relative of a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party in a prisoner swap between the US and China. The pardons were made public on Thursday, revealing that Yanjun Xu, Ji Chaoqun, and Shanlin Jin received clemencies last month for their respective convictions.
Yanjun Xu, a Chinese intelligence officer, was arrested in Belgium on espionage charges and extradited to the US. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempting to steal aerospace and satellite secrets. Ji Chaoqun, who worked with China’s Ministry of State Security, was convicted of spying on tech companies in the US and sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Shanlin Jin was convicted of possession of over 47,000 images of child pornography while a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 2021.
The clemencies for the Chinese nationals were part of a prisoner swap deal with China, where three Americans serving prison sentences were released. Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung were among the US prisoners released by China in exchange for the clemencies granted by President Biden.
These pardons come amidst a crackdown on alleged Chinese spies in New York, with federal authorities targeting individuals in state and local governments. A Congressional committee criticized the Department of Justice for its lack of enforcement against Chinese espionage in the US.
Yanjun Xu, the first Chinese government intelligence officer to be extradited to the US, was convicted of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and trade theft. He targeted US companies, including GE Aviation, using aliases, front companies, and universities to deceive employees and collect information. Xu was arrested in Belgium in 2018 while attempting to exchange information with an aviation company employee.
Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the DOJ for prosecuting Xu and emphasized the importance of national security laws against foreign threats. Xu worked alongside Ji Chaoqun, who was also involved in espionage activities targeting advanced aerospace and satellite technologies in the US.
In addition to the espionage cases, there have been revelations of Chinese spies operating in New York City, including a police station above a noodle shop in Lower Manhattan used to spy on dissidents. Allegations of Chinese agents within the highest ranks of the NYPD and City Hall have also surfaced, raising concerns about Chinese influence in the US.
Overall, the prisoner swap between the US and China involving clemencies for Chinese spies highlights the ongoing challenges of foreign espionage and the need for robust enforcement of national security laws to protect American interests.
