China’s New York envoy was not expelled but had finished his posting: US State Department
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 20: Chinese Consul General Huang Ping attends as Chinese Consul General Huang Ping and Deputy Consul General Jiang Jianjun Qian Jin light the Empire State Building in celebration of Lunar New Year at The Empire State Building on January 20, 2023 in New York City. John Lamparski/Getty Images for Empire State Building/AFP
Getty Images via AFP
WASHINGTON - China’s consul-general in New York left his post as scheduled after completing his posting in August, the US State Department said on Sept 4, hours after New York’s governor said she asked for his expulsion in the aftermath of an aide’s arrest for secretly acting as a Chinese agent.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Consul-General Huang Ping “was not expelled”.
“Our understanding is that the consul-general reached the end of a regular scheduled rotation in August, and so rotated out of the position, but was not expelled,” he said.
“But of course, when it comes to the status of particular employees of a foreign mission, I would refer you to the foreign country to speak to it. But there was no expulsion action.”
China’s embassy in Washington said Chinese diplomats do not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations.
“Their normal performance of duties in the US should not be interfered with or disrupted in any way,” an embassy spokesperson said, adding that reports saying the Chinese envoy was expelled were false and making “malicious speculations”.
Earlier on Sept 4, New York Governor Kathy Hochul told an event that she spoke by phone at the request of Secretary of State Antony Blinken to a high-ranking State Department official
“And I’ve been informed that the consul-general is no longer in the New York mission,” she said.
Mr Miller said Ms Hochul had spoken on Sept 4 to Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Asked by an audience member if she had been interviewed by investigators, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ms Hochul said: “They asked me one question.”
“I’m not able to talk about it but it had something to do with identifying whether or not something was my signature and that was it,” she said.
Linda Sun, 41, a former aide to Ms Hochul, was charged on Sept 3 with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government in exchange for millions of dollars in compensation and gifts, including meals of gourmet duck.
Sun and her husband Chris Hu, 40, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges before US Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in Brooklyn, after being arrested on the morning of Sept 3.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said that while working in state government, Sun blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from meeting officials, and sought to arrange for a high-level New York state official to visit China. In exchange, Chinese government representatives allegedly arranged for millions of dollars in transactions for Hu, who had business activities in China.
Prosecutors said Sun and Hu used the money to buy a 2024 Ferrari Roma sports car, as well as property on New York’s Long Island and in Honolulu worth about US$6 million (S$7.8 million).
Ms Hochul was not accused of any wrongdoing. Her office fired Sun in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct and immediately reported Sun’s actions to the authorities. Her office also has assisted law enforcement throughout the process, a spokesperson for the governor said.
According to the website of China’s consulate in New York, Mr Huang has been the consul-general since November 2018. Prior to that, the 61-year-old served as a Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe and did stints as an official at the embassy in Washington and China’s consulate in Chicago. REUTERS
