A Chinese national named Sun Hoi Ying was charged in a criminal complaint for working as an illegal agent for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) inside the United States. He allegedly was responsible for barring a pregnant US citizen from leaving the PRC due to her father being pursued by Sun.

Court documents released last Wednesday in the Southern District of New York said that Sun Hoi Ying, also known as Sun Haiying, operated in US territory as an official PRC agent from February 2017 to February 2022 without informing the US attorney general as mandated by law.

Sun Hoi Ying allegedly tracked down, investigated, pressured, and threatened individuals labeled as “fugitives” as part of the Chinese government’s “Operation Fox Hunt.” He had allegedly spied on the lives of a number of individuals in an effort to take them back to China forcibly.

“The PRC government launched a campaign dubbed ‘Operation Fox Hunt,’ a global plot to repress dissent and to forcibly repatriate so-called ‘fugitives’ – including citizens living legally in the United States – through the use of unsanctioned, unilateral, and illegal practices,” US Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said.