SAN FRANCISCO • United States officials said they now have custody of a Chinese researcher who had taken shelter at the country's consulate in San Francisco after she was charged with trying to hide her military background.
Officials briefing reporters declined to discuss the circumstances of the arrest of Tang Juan, a researcher at the University of California at Davis who was accused of lying on her US visa application.
Tang became a flash point in deteriorating US-China relations when federal prosecutors declared her a fugitive last Thursday and a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry called her a victim of "political persecution". She is set to appear in federal court in Sacramento tomorrow.
The Justice Department is investigating universities across the US in an attempt to uncover members of China's military forces who it says are hiding in plain sight.
"These members of China's People's Liberation Army applied for research visas while hiding their true affiliation with the PLA," Assistant Attorney-General for National Security John Demers said in a statement.
Days after US agents interviewed Tang last month, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against her in federal court, under seal. Prosecutors said in a court filing this month that the Chinese consulate in San Francisco provides "a potential safe harbour for a PLA official intent on avoiding prosecution in the US".
The Justice Department said in a statement that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed other visa holders suspected of having an "undeclared affiliation" with the Chinese military in more than 25 American cities.
The criminal complaint against Tang, unsealed on July 20 in a Sacramento federal court, accused her of falsely denying connections to the Chinese military and the Chinese Communist Party. Tang applied for a US visa last October to study cancer treatments at the state university campus located just outside of Sacramento.
An FBI agent said in the complaint that Tang had apparent connections to the military, based on an Internet search of news articles. Agents interviewed her at her apartment in Davis last month and seized electronic material under a search warrant.
Tang denied any connection to the military or the Communist Party, but agents found a photograph of her in military uniform in the electronic material.
Tang told the agents she was required to wear the uniform to attend medical school because it was run by the military. They also found an application for government benefits in which she listed her political affiliation as a Communist Party member, according to the agent's affidavit.
BLOOMBERG
