China's New York envoy expelled after governor’s aide charged as foreign agent
PHOTO CAPTION: Chinese and U.S. flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
(Reuters) -China's consul general in New York has been expelled, CNN reported on Wednesday, a day after a former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul was charged with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government.
CNN reported Hochul as saying during an event on Tuesday that she "conveyed (her) desire to have the consul general expelled, and I have been informed that the consul general is no longer in the NY mission."
The U.S. State Department and China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Linda Sun, 41, a former aide to Hochul, was charged on Tuesday with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government in exchange for millions of dollars in compensation and gifts, including meals of gourmet duck.
Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, 40, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in Brooklyn, after being arrested on Tuesday morning.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said that while working in state government, Sun blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from meeting with officials, and sought to arrange for a high-level New York state official to visit China. In exchange, Chinese government representatives allegedly arranged for millions of dollars in transactions for Hu, who had business activities in China.
Prosecutors said Sun and Hu used the money to buy a 2024 Ferrari Roma sports car, as well as property on New York's Long Island and in Honolulu worth about $6 million.
Hochul was not accused of any wrongdoing. Her office fired Sun in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct and reported Sun's actions immediately to authorities. Her office also has assisted law enforcement throughout the process, a spokesperson for the governor said.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub, David Brunnstrom and Michale Martina; editing by Costas Pitas and Leslie Adler)
