"Cooperative Contact" charged as Chinese agent.

A Florida man was charged  with conspiring and acting as an agent of the PRC without notification to the Attorney General. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. 

According to the court documents, the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) is in charge of civilian intelligence collection for the PRC. Since internet access in China is restricted, the MSS often uses “cooperative contacts” located in countries outside of the PRC to conduct research on topics of interest to the PRC. They also use contacts abroad to monitor and intimidate Chinese political dissidents, according to the indictment..

The indictment charges Ping Li, 59, of Wesley Chapel, a U.S. citizen who immigrated to the United States from the PRC 30 years ago.   He worked for Verizon for more than 20 years and most recently worked for InfoSys, an India-based information technology company.

From as early as 2012, Li allegedly served as a cooperative contact working at the direction of officers of the MSS to obtain information of interest to the PRC government.

Li obtained a wide variety information at the request of the MSS, including information concerning Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy advocates, members of the Falun Gong religious movement, and U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, and to report that information to the MSS.

Li also provided the MSS with information obtained from his employer. Li used a variety of anonymous online accounts for the purpose of communicating with the MSS, and traveled to the PRC to meet with the MSS.

The information he is alleged to have provided to Chinese officials included details about American politicians and the internal operations of his employer. He is also alleged to have provided information about people affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement. Falun Gong is considered a subversive element by the Chinese government and has been banned there since the 1990s.