Reds under the bed, Stars and Stripes on the duvet

Suspected Chinese spies appear to be popping up everywhere. On Tuesday, a former aide to two New York governors was charged with acting as an illegal agent for China’s ruling Communist Party.

United States federal prosecutors revealed that Linda Sun had used her position to “subtly advance Beijing’s agenda.” In exchange, she was allegedly paid millions of dollars. She and her husband Chris Hu have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Sun was deputy chief of staff for Governor Kathy Hochul and was also part of former incumbent Andrew Cuomo’s administration. She was arrested along with her husband at their US$4 million home on Long Island.

Hours later, former Philippine Mayor Alice Guo was arrested in Indonesia after a month-long hunt across Singapore and Malaysia. She has also been accused of “spying,” as well as “money laundering” and “human trafficking.”

Guo has denied the allegations. But in a dramatic twist, “her fingerprints matched a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping,” media reports highlighted. In turn, this has triggered “accusations of her being a spy who provided cover for criminal gangs.”

[Beware of] handsome men and beautiful women.

China’s ministry of state security 

Delve deeper:

• Last month, United States Army intelligence analyst Korbein Schultz pleaded guilty “to conspiracy and bribery charges.”
• “Prosecutors said he sold dozens of military documents to someone believed to be working with the Chinese government,” The New York Times stated.

Delve deeper: Still, perhaps, the biggest threat to American interests is Beijing’s expanding spy base in Cuba, which threatens to become a new “flashpoint.”

Big picture: “[In July,] the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a report suggesting China is developing sophisticated listening posts [there],” an East Asia Forum commentary republished in China Factor said.  

Beijing calling: Cue the Ministry of State Security. China’s spy bosses warned in a WeChat post this week that college students should be wary of “handsome men and beautiful women” who might lure them into spying for foreign entities or Uncle Sam.

China Factor comment: From Reds under the bed to Stars and Stripes on the duvet, it is all about spies among us.