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Chinese Researcher Tied To Chinese Military Hiding From FBI In Chinese Consulate

   DailyWire.com
A Chinese flag flies outside the China Consulate General building in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, July 23, 2020.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Although the FBI has arrested three Chinese visa holders suspected of having memberships in the People’s Liberation Army, a fourth research visa fraud suspect is being protected in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, where U.S. law enforcement cannot enter unless invited.

The People’s Liberation Army is under the command of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China.

“Four individuals have recently been charged with visa fraud in connection with a scheme to lie about their status as members of the People’s Republic of China’s military forces, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), while in the United States conducting research. Three of these individuals have been arrested and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking the fourth who is a fugitive from justice currently being harbored at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco,” the Department of Justice stated.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers stated, “These members of China’s People Liberation Army applied for research visas while hiding their true affiliation with the PLA. This is another part of the Chinese Communist Party’s plan to take advantage of our open society and exploit academic institutions. We will continue to conduct this investigation together with the FBI.”

“The United States welcomes students, academics, and researchers from across the globe. Today’s announcement shows the extreme lengths to which the Chinese government has gone to infiltrate and exploit America’s benevolence,” said John Brown, Executive Assistant Director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, adding, “In interviews with members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in over 25 cities across the U.S., the FBI uncovered a concerted effort to hide their true affiliation to take advantage of the United States and the American people.”

The DOJ said of the suspect who is being kept in the Chinese consulate, Juan Tang, that she is a uniformed officer of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). The DOJ continued, “As set forth in the complaint, the FBI found a photograph of Tang in a military uniform and references to Tang’s employment at the Air Force Military Medical University, which has also been known as the Fourth Military Medical University. The FBI interviewed Tang on June 20. Although Tang denied having been a member of the military, an additional photograph of Tang in a different PLA military uniform was found on electronic media seized pursuant to a search warrant.”

“The FBI has interviewed visa holders in more than 25 U.S. cities suspected of hiding their Chinese military memberships, the Justice Department said on Thursday, as part of what experts called the biggest known crackdown on the theft of U.S. know-how in more than 40 years of Sino-U.S. relations,” WKZO reported, adding, “Experts called it the largest known crackdown on the theft of American intellectual property since the two nuclear-armed powers began the process that led to the establishment of diplomat relations in 1979.”

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