U.S. Justice Department officials announced on March 16 that five people representing China's secret police were charged in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. The picture shows Sun Qiang (transliteration), one of the five defendants.
Associated Press
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on March 16 that five individuals who acted as agents of the Chinese government and served China’s secret police were indicted in Brooklyn federal court in New York. Among the charges, several of the defendants " planned to destroy a work of art by a Chinese dissident criticizing the Chinese government . " It is reported that this "Chinese dissident" is Chen Weiming, director of the Guide California Liberty Sculpture Park.
According to documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice, the five defendants " stalked, harassed, and collected intelligence on U.S. residents " for China's secret police and " participated in a transnational repressive conspiracy to force the silence of critics of the Chinese government living in the U.S. and abroad . " Their activities included " attempting to interfere with the campaign of a Chinese-critical U.S. veteran and U.S. congressional candidate in Brooklyn and plotting to destroy a Chinese dissident's art criticizing the Chinese government . "
Jonas Yuan , a volunteer at Liberty Sculpture Park , told reporters on the evening of March 16 that the park staff were delighted to know the news and celebrated: " I made a delicious meal to eat together. Let's have a little drink together. "
The five charged, including Liu Fan and Matthew Ziburis, who were arrested on March 15 in the Eastern District of New York , and Wang Shujun , who was arrested on the Eastern District of New York on the 16th , but the other two defendants, Sun Qiang and Lin Qiming are currently at large.
Among them, Liu Fan, Matthew Zibris and Sun Qiang were accused of " smearing, collecting their information, and disseminating information about them against a number of Chinese dissidents living in New York, California, and Indiana. negative news ” . Among them, " Liu is the president of a so-called media company in New York City. And Zibris, who lives in Oyster Bay, Long Island, is a former Florida prison guard and bodyguard. Sun is an employee of an international technology company in China. "
Chen Weiming said that last year, Matthew Zibris used the guise of an art dealer to contact Liberty Sculpture Park: " Matthew was an art dealer at the time, representing a member of the Jewish Chamber of Commerce that I admired very much. The leader, said he wanted my work to be exhibited in New York. He contacted my art dealer, then approached me and paid a deposit to exhibit in the most important art museum in New York. ”
According to the charging materials released by the US Department of Justice, on March 2 , 2021 , Liu Fan helped Matthew Zibris " design a fictitious business card showing Zibris as an art dealer " for showing Show it to Chen Weiming. Chen Weiming told reporters that when Matthew Zibris was negotiating with him, he had asked for two cameras to be installed in the studio of the Freedom Sculpture Park, and Chen Weiming agreed: " Of course he said it very nicely, saying that his big boss was very interested in sculpture. I am very interested in art and would like to see our work. This is understandable, because ordinary people know how to make paintings, but they don’t know how to make sculptures. ”
Materials from the U.S. Department of Justice show that Liu Fan and Zibris were manipulated and instructed by Sun Qiang in these activities. In addition to installing cameras in the studio of Liberty Sculpture Park, they also installed a positioning device on Chen Weiming's car. Chen Weiming said: " They are completely a monitor of our on-site employees, my volunteers, my assistants, and myself. "
On July 23 last year , the " CCP virus " sculpture in the Freedom Sculpture Park, which was composed of half Xi Jinping's head and half a skull, was set on fire. Materials released by the U.S. Department of Justice show how Sun Qiang and Liu Fan discussed how to destroy the sculpture. The disclosed exchange between Sun Qiang and Liu Fan shows that Liu initially expressed opposition to the destruction of the " CCP virus " sculpture, because the Liberty Sculpture Park may " call the police to deal with it and make things more complicated " , and rebuild the sculpture and sell more. good price. Later, however, Liu Fan turned to support the destruction of the sculpture, suggesting to buy the works in the Free Sculpture Park and destroy them. In addition, Sun Qiang once encouraged Liu Fan to let Zibris destroy the sculpture, saying that he would " destroy all sculptures and things that are not good for our leaders. "
Chen Weiming told reporters that what surprised him about the case disclosed so far was: " I didn't expect that this time, they had two fronts, one was to actually operate the actual arson, and the other was to invite me to exhibit at the most important art museum in New York. Sign a contract with me and say I have a big boss who really appreciates my art. ”
The charging materials also show that Liu Fan and Matthew Zibris were in New York when the " CCP virus " sculpture was burned. This means that the direct arsonist was someone else at the time. Liu Fan and others also tried to obtain Chen Weiming's personal information and tax information. Liu Fan once made a budget list, saying that it would take twenty 20 yuan for Zibris to obtain various information on Chen Weiming.Ten thousand U.S. dollars. In addition, the charging materials show: " Zebliss appears to have earned more than tenmillion dollars, while the accounts associated with Liu and Liu's spouse have received over three hundred dollars from certain Hong Kong accounts, etc.million dollar wire transfer. " Liu Fan also told people that Zibris was hired by him.
Jonas Yuan revealed an interesting detail. When Zibris contacted him last year , he had a helpless expression: " Fortunately or unfortunately, I have dealt with this person. This person is very important to his boss. Dissatisfaction can be seen to be real. ”
Since Zibris stopped mentioning the exhibition in New York after the " CCP Virus " sculpture was burned, Liberty Sculpture Park had previously commissioned a New York lawyer Li Jinjin, a former leader of the 1989 social movement, to file a civil lawsuit against him. Chen Weiming revealed that although Li Jinjin was assassinated on March 14 , they will still fight the civil lawsuit.
The reporter has also sent an email to the Chinese consulate general in New York asking for relevant details, but has not received a response so far. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on March 17 that he did not know the specific circumstances of the charges against the five Chinese spies, and said that the "transnational suppression" that the United States said had no basis, and believed that the United States should abandon the "Cold War mentality and consciousness". Form prejudice, stop smearing China with groundless accusations, and do something to promote Sino-US relations."
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