Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday announced charges against two Chinese intelligence officers accused of attempting to interfere with a U.S. investigation into a Chinese global telecommunications company, multiple outlets have reported. Garland then unveiled two other criminal cases and charges pertaining to "efforts by the Chinese government to interfere in U.S. affairs," one in New Jersey and another in the Eastern District of New York, CNBC summarizes.
Thirteen people were charged in total.
The New Jersey case alleges that four people, including three Chinese intelligence officers, were conspiring to act as illegal agents in the U.S. on behalf of the Chinese government, NPR reports. The New York case involves seven Chinese nationals who were allegedly threatening and harassing a U.S. resident to return to China. Two of the seven are in U.S. custody.
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In regards to the telecommunication case, the exact company was not named, but NPR notes that "information in the charging document aligns with the Chinese tech giant Huawei, which was indicted in New York in 2019." Garland said the indicted Chinese officers tried to steal information about the case by recruiting and bribing an informant, "whom they allegedly paid $61,000 in Bitcoin," NBC News summarizes.
"As these cases demonstrate, the government of China sought to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the United States and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights. They did not succeed," Garland said Monday. "The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the rule of law upon which our democracy is based."
