WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2021) The US government has charged nine individuals with conspiring to stalk and harass residents in the United States on behalf of the government of China, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
"A superseding indictment was filed today in Federal court in Brooklyn charging nine defendants with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as illegal agents of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ... and engaging and conspiring to engage in interstate and international stalking," the Justice Department said in a release.
Two defendants, Tu Lan and Zhu Feng, were also charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Acting at the direction of Beijing government officials, they conducted surveillance of and engaged in a campaign to harass, stalk and coerce certain US residents to return to China, the release said.
"The superseding indictment alleges that Tu Lan ...who was employed as a prosecutor with the Hanyang People's Procuratorate, traveled to the United States, directed the harassment campaign and ordered a co-conspirator to destroy evidence to obstruct the criminal investigation," the release said.
These activities were carried out as part of a global, concerted and extralegal repatriation effort known as "Operation Fox Hunt," the release added.
Defendants Tu Lan, Hu Ji, Li Minjun, Zhai Yongqiang and Zhu Feng remain at large, according to� the release.
