Former New York state governor aide Linda Sun has been indicted on 10 counts including money laundering and visa fraud for allegedly acting as a Chinese agent.
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00:00In the U.S., a former aide for the governor of New York has been charged with being an agent for the Chinese government,
00:06including allegedly blocking Taiwanese officials from meeting U.S. state counterparts.
00:11Now to explain more about this case, Tiffany Wong joins us live from Taipei.
00:15Tiffany, how was this official reportedly helping the Chinese government?
00:22Well, prosecutors are saying that that former aide Linda Sun
00:26served as an agent for the Chinese Communist Party in exchange for millions of dollars
00:31and extravagant gifts, including gourmet duck catered by the Chinese consulate chef.
00:36She worked in the New York state governor's office for over a decade
00:40under former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and current Governor Kathy Hochul,
00:46and they said that she directly interfered in the state office's relations with Taiwanese officials
00:53by doing things like blocking former Governor Cuomo from attending a banquet
00:57when Taiwan's then-president Tsai Ing-wen was on visit in New York,
01:01and also declining invitations from Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Governor Kathy Hochul.
01:09They say that she also forged letters to give to Chinese state officials to help facilitate
01:15their visits to the U.S. illegally, and the FBI raided her multimillion-dollar home in July,
01:22but they didn't make any arrests back then.
01:24Now, she's been indicted on 10 counts, including visa fraud and money laundering,
01:30and that money laundering also with her husband, who has business interests in China.
01:34Now, they've both pled not guilty. They've been released on bond,
01:39but they've had to give up their passports for now. Governor Hochul's office said that
01:45Sun was let go in March 2023 after they discovered evidence of misconduct,
01:50but it's unclear what exactly that misconduct was, and they said that they reported that
01:55to law enforcement and have since been cooperating with the investigation.
02:00And Tiffany, what's the significance of this case coming to light
02:04right now? What kind of impact could it have on U.S.-China ties?
02:10Well, it really adds to the precarity of U.S.-China relations at this moment. It comes
02:15just two months before the U.S. elections in November, when fears of Chinese election
02:20interference are high, and it really adds pressure to the U.S. to crack down on any
02:25Chinese interference now. Also, this comes just a week after the U.S. National Security Advisor,
02:32Jake Sullivan, was in Beijing. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping there and also
02:37Foreign Minister Wang Yi, hoping to cool down tensions, but that was seen as a precursor
02:43to a potential final visit between the U.S. President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping
02:49before Biden leaves office in January. But now with this latest case, it could derail any of
02:55the positive momentum in the bilateral relationship there. As far as Linda Sun's case goes, it's
03:01unclear how exactly she became involved with the Chinese Communist Party. We've also contacted
03:07Taiwan's foreign ministry for comment on how she potentially affected Taiwan's dealings in
03:13the U.S., but they didn't respond in time for air.