China harboring military-linked biologist fugitive at San Francisco consulate, FBI says

Greg Re @ Fox News:

The Chinese consulate in San Francisco is harboring a biology researcher who falsely denied connections to the Chinese military to obtain a visa and gain access to the country, according to court documents filed by the FBI.

The filing came as part of a document that cited a slew of other alleged episodes in which Chinese nationals allegedly lied on their visa applications by hiding their military connections.

Tang Juan, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, stated on her J-1 visa application that she “had never served in the military, but open source investigation revealed photographs of her in the uniform of the Civilian Cadre of the PLA [People’s Liberation Army], and that she had been employed as a researcher at the Air Force Military Medical University, which is another name for FMMU [Fourth Military Medical University],” the FBI claimed.

Then, during an interview with FBI agents on June 20, Tang “denied serving in the Chinese military, claimed she did not know the meaning of the insignia on her uniform, and that wearing a military uniform was required for attendance at FMMU because it was a military school.”

The FBI revealed it then executed a search warrant immediately at Tang’s home and found additional evidence of Tang’s PLA affiliation.

“The FBI assesses that, at some point following the search and interview of Tang on June 20, 2020, Tang went to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, where the FBI assesses she has remained,” the bureau announced.

There existed evidence in at least one case “of a military scientist copying or stealing information from American institutions at the direction of military superiors in China,” the bureau went on. The court documents contained similar evidence against several other Chinese scientists.

Chen Song, for example, was an “active duty People’s Liberation Army military scientist who lied to get into the United States, attempted to destroy evidence and lied extensively to the FBI when interviewed,” the government wrote in charging documents

Meanwhile, the United States ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, escalating tensions between the world’s largest economies as President Trump has ramped up punitive measures against China ahead of the November U.S. election. Beijing denounced the order Wednesday as “outrageous” and claimed it would draw a firm response if not reversed.

The physical closure of the consulate, one of China’s six missions in the United States, marked a dramatic step in increasingly contentious relations that have been strained not only by the coronavirus pandemic but also by disputes over trade, human rights, Hong Kong and Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea.

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