• The indictment does not mention Huawei, but a source says it is.
• The Chinese telecommunications business was charged with federal crimes in Brooklyn, New York.
• Indictment shows enhanced efforts to crack down on Chinese agents working on U.S. soil.

On Monday, the Justice Department charged six Chinese citizens, including five alleged spies, with working for the Chinese government to recruit US residents as sources and undermine the federal prosecution of a major Chinese firm.

The Chinese telecommunications business was charged with federal crimes in Brooklyn, New York. The indictment does not mention Huawei, but a source told CNN that it is.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news conference Monday that the disclosure shows the department’s enhanced efforts to crack down on Chinese agents working on American soil to undermine US interests.

“As these cases illustrate, the government of China intended to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the US and to undermine our legal system that guarantees those rights,” Garland stated. They failed.

Two of the alleged spies, Gouchun He and Zheng Wan, interfered with a federal prosecution against Huawei. They’re free.

They allegedly developed a contact with a case-related law enforcement official in 2017. According to charge documents, he and Wang thought they had recruited the official as a Chinese asset, but the official was a “double agent” under FBI control, loyal to the US.

The two allegedly asked the official about witnesses, trial evidence, and additional Huawei allegations during the inquiry. Prosecutors allege the US official received thousands in cash and jewels.

According to court records, he and Wang paid the US official hundreds of dollars in Bitcoin last week for information.

He and Wang allegedly interfered more in Huawei’s prosecution as the probe developed. He and Wang requested that law enforcement tape prosecutors during trial strategy sessions to communicate non-public information with Huawei, according to charging documents.

According to the accusation, the US official handed the two Chinese spies a snapshot of a single-page document with a false “secret” label relating to the case.

The US official allegedly received $41,000 for the material.

In a second plan, prosecutors allege that four Chinese nationals spent a decade recruiting US citizens to work as Chinese government assets and pass on intelligence.

According to the indictment, the defendants, some of whom were Chinese intelligence personnel, used a bogus think tank to recruit university academics, retired federal law enforcement, and state homeland security officials. Prosecutors say the accused sought to bribe their targets with extravagant gifts, including a free vacation to China.

According to the accusation, the four defendants wanted technology and equipment for China. The defendants also wanted to quell US protests that embarrassed China.

Four men face conspiracy to act as foreign agents in the US. According to a news statement, the males are Chinese citizens and may have been arrested.

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