Two Homeland Security workers were charged with spying on the U.S. on behalf of the Chinese government, according to reports.
U.S. prosecutors charged Craig Miller and Derrick Taylor, who both worked in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS.) Miller was a DHS deportation officer for 15 years in Minnesota, while Taylor is a retired DHS law enforcement agent. They were both arrested in June.
On Wednesday, a grand jury returned an indictment charging the two men with crimes committed while acting as alleged Chinese agents, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
“We will defend the rights of people in the United States to engage in free speech and political expression,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen. “These individuals aided agents of a foreign government in seeking to suppress dissenting voices who have taken refuge here.”
The other two individuals, Fan “Frank” Liu and Matthew Ziburis, were previously arrested as part of an earlier related complaint in March, while the third individual, Qiang “Jason” Sun, remains at large, according to prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York.
The charges include obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence after FBI agents asked about the use of a law enforcement database with information on U.S.-based Chinese dissidents.
Asked for comment, Chinese embassy spokesman, Liu Pengyu, said it was “not aware of the specific situation” but that Beijing “firmly opposes acts by the U.S. that groundlessly malign and smear China.”
Ever since the Russia-Ukraine war began, China has been working hard trying to breach America’s secrets with cyberattacks.
Cybersecurity firm Cybereason recently uncovered a Chinese state-backed cyber-espionage campaign that put data at risk such as IP information, blueprints, and intellectual property.
The operation has existed since 2019 when President Xi Jinping’s government tried to get classified information regarding manufacturing and technology from many countries, including those in North America, Europe, and East Asia.
As expected, China denied Cybereason’s reports, saying that the country doesn’t “condone” cyberattacks and refutes so-called “groundless speculation,” according to Pengyu.
The spokesman then tried to play the victim and claimed that the firm should focus on hacks against China allegedly sponsored by the U.S.
