When it comes to getting hold/rid of a dissident (read pro-democracy activist), the Chinese regime can go to any lengths. That was reinforced when three new criminal cases were unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this week. In one case, prosecutors said Lin Qiming, a Chinese agent, contracted a private investigator in New York to scuttle the chances of Yan Xiong, who is seeking Democratic nomination to run for the Congress. Yan is a U.S. citizen and army veteran who has served in Iraq. He has been on the radar of the Chinese Communist Party for his participation in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests as a student leader and for his support of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Lin’s arrest warrant lists the various means he had thought of to discredit Yan—use of prostitution, tax evasion and possession of child porn material. And violence if nothing else works. Among the court documents is a recorded conversation between Lin and the person who was put on the job. “If you don’t find anything after following him for a few weeks, can we manufacture something? In the end, violence would be fine too… Beat him until he cannot run for election”. The warrant said Lin is a retired intelligence agent who continued to work for the Ministry of State Security (MSS), China’s external intelligence agency.
