Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
While the US-China stand-off does not seem escalating down in near future here is a major development as a Singaporean man has pleaded guilty in the US to working as an agent of China.
Jun Wei Yeo was charged with using his political consultancy in America as a front to collect information for Chinese intelligence, officials in the US said.
Separately, the US said a Chinese researcher accused of hiding her ties to China’s military was detained. China earlier ordered the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu.
The move to shut down the diplomatic mission in the south-western city was in response to the US closing China’s consulate in Houston. Experts say the stand-off between US and China will see more such moves in the near future but the spy network is something that has made both the countries further alert particularly as all are focused upon making COVID-19 vaccine and fear its data leak.
Also Read : Trump signs orders to lower drug price
Also Read : UPCC demands resignation of Yogi Government
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the decision was taken because China was stealing intellectual property. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded by saying that the US move was based on a potpourri of anti-Chinese lies.
After a 72-hour deadline for Chinese diplomats to leave the Houston consulate expired on Friday reporters saw men who appeared to be US officials force open a door to enter the premises. Uniformed staff from the US State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security took up position to guard the entrance.
Jun Wei Yeo, also known as Dickson Yeo, pleaded guilty in a federal court to working as an illegal agent of the Chinese government in 2015-19, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
He was earlier charged with using his political consultancy in the country as a front to collect valuable, non-public information for Chinese intelligence.
