What the Justice Department Reported
The U.S. Department of Justice says Thomas Weir Pauken II was sentenced September 1 to two years in federal prison and 36 months of supervised release with no overseas travel after pleading guilty to acting as an agent of a foreign government in the United States. DOJ says his conduct supported PRC Ministry of State Security recruitment and sensitive-information collection and that he received at least $100,000.
Security Without Collective Suspicion
Democratic societies must defend themselves against covert foreign-state operations without turning legitimate Chinese diaspora, academic, journalistic or civic activity into an object of collective suspicion.
Free China Movement Position
Free China Movement supports evidence-based counterintelligence and due process. The right standard is conduct: investigate and prosecute covert direction where evidence proves it, protect potential targets, and preserve lawful cross-border exchange and civil liberties.