The Department of Justice charged two alleged Chinese spies with criminal obstruction of justice for their efforts to interfere with a DOJ investigation into the Chinese military-backed global telecommunications firm Huawei, which the United States considers a national security threat.
Newly unsealed court documents state that the FBI believes Guochun He and Zheng Wang are “intelligence officers of the People’s Republic of China” who were “conducting foreign intelligence operations targeting the United States on behalf of the PRC government and for the benefit of Company-1,” which is identifiable as Huawei. The DOJ said the duo, together with others, “did knowingly, intentionally and corruptly attempt to obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceedings, to wit: a criminal prosecution in the Eastern District of New York” against Huawei.
The DOJ also accused Guochun He of money-laundering for attempting to use $61,000 in bitcoin to assist with the obstruction of justice.
“In their capacity as intelligence officers working for the PRC government, He and Wang attempted to direct a person they believed they had recruit as an asset who is employed by a U.S. government law enforcement agency (‘GE-1’) to obtain confidential information regarding witnesses, trial evidence, and potential new charges to be brought against Company-1 for the purpose of obstructing justice,” the court filings state. “He paid GE-1 approximately $61,000 for such information.”
The DOJ said the two Chinese spies “first cultivated their relationship” with “GE-1” in about February 2017 but that “GE-1 subsequently began working as a double agent for the U.S. government” and that “since becoming a double agent, GE-1’s continued contact with He and Wang occurred under supervision of the FBI.”
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Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a Monday press conference that the Chinese spies tried to “bribe” the “double agent” but that the documents handed over to the Chinese intelligence officers were faked by the U.S. government.
“This was an egregious attempt by PRC intelligence officers to shield a PRC-based company from accountability and to undermine the integrity of our judicial system,” Garland said.
The DOJ had unveiled a superseding indictment of previous 2019 charges against Huawei in February 2020, charging it with racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets. The Chinese intelligence officers were attempting to obstruct that investigation.
Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, was arrested by Canadian authorities in December 2018 at the request of the U.S., indicted in the Eastern District of New York in January 2019, and charged with bank fraud and wire fraud as well as conspiracy to commit both. But the Biden DOJ announced in September 2021 that they had entered into a “deferred prosecution agreement” with her and allowed her to return to China.
Shortly after Meng’s arrest in 2018, Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, dubbed “the two Michaels,” were arrested and have been held ever since, being secretly tried and convicted in China in March 2021. Hours after Meng’s release was announced, news broke that the two Michaels were released and headed back to Canada.
Then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed there was “no link” between the DOJ agreeing to drop its charges against the Huawei executive held in Canada and China releasing two Canadians that it had taken hostage.
The Chinese government had repeatedly been accused of engaging in hostage diplomacy, and the U.S., Canada, and numerous other nations have condemned China for the “arbitrary detention” of the two Michaels.
The DOJ and U.S. intelligence agencies believe Huawei and other Chinese companies are working hand in hand with the ruling Communist Party, potentially giving China’s surveillance state access to hardware and networks around the world.
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Biden administration officials have been investigating concerns that Huawei may be gathering sensitive information on military locations, including reportedly looking into whether Huawei’s cell towers have been gathering sensitive information from missile silos or military bases and sending it to China.
The Federal Communications Commission designated Huawei as a national security threat in the summer of 2020. The FCC plans in the near future to implement a ban on the sale of all new Huawei devices over national security and surveillance concerns.
