A high-ranking New York government official has been charged with working as a Chinese spy in return for a lavish lifestyle.

Yun Ju-hyun | Special correspondent of Chosun Ilbo in New York

On Sept. 3, Sun Wen, former assistant to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, was sued by U.S. federal prosecutors.

The Associated Press and other local media reported that Sun Wen was charged by prosecutors for allegedly acting as an agent of the Chinese government. She was accused of using her position to seek benefits for the Chinese Communist Party, but she denied the charges.

On the morning of the same day, U.S. federal prosecutors arrested Sun Wen (40) and her husband Hu Xiao (41) at their home in Long Island, New York, on 10 charges including violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), visa fraud, and money laundering.

In July, U.S. federal prosecutors indicted Sumi Terry (52, Korean name Kim Soo-mi), a Korean Peninsula expert and chief researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), on the same charge of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. This implies that Sun Wen worked for the Chinese government without reporting to the U.S. government.

According to a 65-page indictment by prosecutors, Sun Wen successfully prevented Taiwanese government officials from meeting with Hochul on many occasions. For example, a state legislator invited Hochul to meet with Taiwanese government officials. Sun wrote to the legislator, saying, “Governor Hochul does not want to be involved in sensitive issues between China and Taiwan and will not meet (with Taiwanese people).”

The indictment states, “Sun Wen helped Chinese government officials obtain the state government’s official statement and official documents signed by the governor without permission. Although such statements do not have much substantive significance, they are highly regarded by some foreign governments.” The indictment further states that Sun Wen had promoted a high-ranking New York politician, whose real name was not disclosed, to visit China and had tried to arrange a meeting between a Chinese government delegation and New York government officials. The prosecutors said, “This move was intended to secretly promote issues related to China and the Chinese Communist Party,” and “directly threatened the national security of the United States.”

The New York Times (NYT) reported that “Sun Wen received rewards, her husband’s business won millions of dollars in deals, and relatives were able to find jobs in China.” The couple owns a house worth $4.1 million. In July, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a seizure search of the house. According to the indictment, the couple used money provided by the Chinese Communist Party to purchase the property. They also bought a $2.1 million apartment in Honolulu, Hawaii, and own a 2024 Ferrari. According to the New York Post, “The private chef of ‘Chinese Civil Servant 1,’ who is suspected to be Huang Ping, the Chinese Consul General in New York, prepared Nanjing salted duck and delivered it to Sun Wen’s parents’ home. Sun Wen and her family have also received salted duck since then.”

After the news of Sun Wen and her husband’s arrest spread, the State of New York said: “Sun Wen’s illegal behavior was discovered and her contract was terminated in March 2023.” In 2012, Sun Wen first entered the New York State government during Andrew Cuomo’s tenure as governor. Prior to that, she served as an assistant to a state representative from Queens, New York.

To read the original Chinese-language version of this report, see the publisher’s website here: https://cnnews.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?nNewsNumb=20240961551&cate=C01&mcate=M1003.