China’s government has been on the hunt for a high-ranking defector, Ling Wancheng, to bring him back to the communist nation, but the White House has sent out a stern warning, demanding the country cease and desist its search missions.
The Chinese government is believed to have planted secret operatives in America to pressure fugitives to come home now, U.S. officials say, the New York Times reported. The newspaper also said the present of these covert police forces – undercover agents with China’s Ministry of Public Security – are all part and parcel of a formal Chinese government mission called Operation Fox Hunt.
U.S. officials aren’t happy about the operation, or the alleged search for Ling.
The Daily Mail reported Ling, 55, is considered by Chinese authorities to be the “most significant defector in decades,” and the White House, via a State Department statement, called for China to back off its search.
Ling’s brother, Ling Jihau, once worked for China’s former president, Hu Jintao, and was accused of taking bribes, engaging in adulterous behavior, and illegally accessing state secrets, the Wall Street Journal said. He’s been living in California under a fake name for the past several months, and China officials believe he might be seeking asylum.
Ling hasn’t been officially accused of anything by Chinese authorities, the Daily Mail said.
But government officials want him for questioning. The agents with China’s Ministry of Public Security are thought to enter the United States on trade or tourist visas and use “various strong-arm tactics,” including threats to family members, to entice their targets back to China, the Daily Mail said.
The New York Times reported the agents had so far repatriated more than 930 individuals in the last year or so.
