Former Aide to New York Governor Indicted for Working as Chinese Agent

TaiwanPlus News

Former New York state governor aide Linda Sun has been indicted on 10 counts including money laundering and visa fraud for allegedly acting as a Chinese agent.

Transcript

00:00In the U.S., a former aide for the governor of New York has been charged with being an agent for the Chinese government,

00:06including allegedly blocking Taiwanese officials from meeting U.S. state counterparts.

00:11Now to explain more about this case, Tiffany Wong joins us live from Taipei.

00:15Tiffany, how was this official reportedly helping the Chinese government?

00:22Well, prosecutors are saying that that former aide Linda Sun

00:26served as an agent for the Chinese Communist Party in exchange for millions of dollars

00:31and extravagant gifts, including gourmet duck catered by the Chinese consulate chef.

00:36She worked in the New York state governor's office for over a decade

00:40under former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and current Governor Kathy Hochul,

00:46and they said that she directly interfered in the state office's relations with Taiwanese officials

00:53by doing things like blocking former Governor Cuomo from attending a banquet

00:57when Taiwan's then-president Tsai Ing-wen was on visit in New York,

01:01and also declining invitations from Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Governor Kathy Hochul.

01:09They say that she also forged letters to give to Chinese state officials to help facilitate

01:15their visits to the U.S. illegally, and the FBI raided her multimillion-dollar home in July,

01:22but they didn't make any arrests back then.

01:24Now, she's been indicted on 10 counts, including visa fraud and money laundering,

01:30and that money laundering also with her husband, who has business interests in China.

01:34Now, they've both pled not guilty. They've been released on bond,

01:39but they've had to give up their passports for now. Governor Hochul's office said that

01:45Sun was let go in March 2023 after they discovered evidence of misconduct,

01:50but it's unclear what exactly that misconduct was, and they said that they reported that

01:55to law enforcement and have since been cooperating with the investigation.

02:00And Tiffany, what's the significance of this case coming to light

02:04right now? What kind of impact could it have on U.S.-China ties?

02:10Well, it really adds to the precarity of U.S.-China relations at this moment. It comes

02:15just two months before the U.S. elections in November, when fears of Chinese election

02:20interference are high, and it really adds pressure to the U.S. to crack down on any

02:25Chinese interference now. Also, this comes just a week after the U.S. National Security Advisor,

02:32Jake Sullivan, was in Beijing. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping there and also

02:37Foreign Minister Wang Yi, hoping to cool down tensions, but that was seen as a precursor

02:43to a potential final visit between the U.S. President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping

02:49before Biden leaves office in January. But now with this latest case, it could derail any of

02:55the positive momentum in the bilateral relationship there. As far as Linda Sun's case goes, it's

03:01unclear how exactly she became involved with the Chinese Communist Party. We've also contacted

03:07Taiwan's foreign ministry for comment on how she potentially affected Taiwan's dealings in

03:13the U.S., but they didn't respond in time for air.

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