New York City, Amsterdam, London, and Melbourne might be separated by oceans, but they are connected by one thread: Chinese influence operations.
The tentacles of Chinese influence operations are spread across all the continents — and they are getting better at the game.
For a long time, Chinese interference abroad was primarily linked to stealing industrial secrets for own growth and research and development purposes. Then, China began to political interference where it planted or cultivated officials who would do its bidding and shape the host nation’s policies such that they would benefit China. It’s not limited to just installing spies in foreign governments, but also getting pro-Chinese politicians elected and public offices with agents.
The case of Linda Sun is the latest that shows China’s playbook to shape foreign countries’ politics in its favour.
Was a Chinese agent running New York Governor’s Office?
Sun, a former Deputy Chief of Staff to former New York Governors Kathy Hochul and Kathy Hochul, has been indicted of being a Chinese spy. She is accused of using the New York Governor’s office as an extension of the Chinese regime.
As a top New York provincial official, Sun is accused of influencing political discourse so that it leans more favourably toward China’s positions on contentious issues like Taiwan or Chinese ethnic minority Uyghurs whom the regime systematically represses, according to The New York Times.
