NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 18, 2025 – Yuanjun Tang, 68, a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Flushing, Queens, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) within the United States.
According to court documents, Tang, a former PRC citizen and political dissident, had previously been imprisoned in China for opposing the Chinese Communist Party, including his participation in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. After defecting to Taiwan in 2002, he was granted political asylum in the United States, where he later settled in New York City and became active in pro-democracy efforts.
Between at least 2018 and June 2023, Tang acted at the direction of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country’s civilian intelligence agency. He provided the MSS with information on U.S.-based Chinese dissidents, including photographs, names, and activities of pro-democracy individuals. He also reported on persons identified as targets by the MSS and shared sensitive information such as immigration lawyer contacts and details regarding the political asylum process.
Tang accepted payments from the MSS and traveled to Macau and mainland China at least three times for face-to-face meetings, where he underwent polygraph tests and received tools to facilitate communication with MSS officers. This included allowing spyware installation on his phone and accepting a laptop for use in transmitting data.
Law enforcement recovered encrypted communications, documents, and multimedia evidence that supported the charges. Tang also assisted the MSS in infiltrating an encrypted group chat used by PRC dissidents in the U.S.
Tang pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2026.
The FBI New York Field Office is leading the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Yumi Chong of the Southern District of New York and Trial Attorney Sean O’Dowd of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
