Federal charges against ex-Gov. Kathy Hochul aide Linda Sun highlight concerns about foreign agents

ALBANY — When a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged last week with being a foreign agent for China, she became the latest person accused of working from within American government to wield influence for the communist government.

The indictment against Linda Sun, of Manhasset, also called attention to the mounting federal investigations in recent years into foreign agents trying to influence American governments.

Rather than more traditional espionage by spies, foreign agents within governments can provide eyes and ears to countries that can potentially influence policy, manipulate public opinion and bring business to those countries’ companies, according to experts in the field.

Sun, a former state employee under Hochul and ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, faces federal charges of operating as a foreign agent, visa fraud and alien smuggling, and using her influence to amass millions of dollars for herself and her husband, Christopher Hu. Hu also faces money laundering charges.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges. Sun’s lawyer said the charges were “the product of an overly aggressive investigation” and Hu’s lawyer said the charges are “perplexing and overly inflammatory.”

The allegations in the indictment appear to be a "textbook example" of how China and the Chinese Communist Party use "covert agents to shape foreign policy narratives and sway political leaders in a manner that serves Beijing’s long-term goals," said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"The charges against Linda Sun illustrate a broader strategy by China to infiltrate and exert influence at all levels of U.S. governance, from local to federal, by exploiting trust and access within political circles," Singleton said.

“New York is extremely important to China,” said Dennis Wilder, a former chief China analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency and now an Asian studies professor at Georgetown University. He cited the major corporations headquartered in New York and the political influence the state can wield nationally.

Federal officials in recent years have investigated several allegations that foreign agents from China and other authoritarian countries were seeking to influence American governments.

For example, in 2022, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted five defendants, including a 15-year employee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who was accused of working for China to influence public opinion.

In 2018, the driver for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California was identified by the FBI as a foreign agent for China. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the driver also served as a "gofer" in Feinstein’s San Francisco district office and was a liaison to the Asian American community. Feinstein said she was shocked by the FBI revelation and fired the driver.

In the Sun case, the indictment accuses her of creating phony proclamations from governors that flattered Chinese officials and canceling public events that would have shown Taiwan in a favorable light during its tense conflict with China, among other allegations.

Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, accused Sun of using her office to promote the public image and interests of Communist China over democratic Taiwan in their international conflict. China claims Taiwan as its territory, while Taiwan is seeking the support of the United States to be independent of Chinese control.

Peace contends that Sun worked with and for China and its Communist Party on a public relations campaign to soften the image of China while muting attention on Taiwan.

Among the accusations cited in the indictment were that Sun:

• Blocked Taiwanese government officials from meetings, once telling a China official: "I have successfully blocked all formal and informal meetings."
• Arranged visits from Chinese officials, including writing unauthorized invitation letters to facilitate travel by Chinese officials to the United States illegally on visas bolstered by the letters.
• "Surreptitiously added" a China official to a top-level state government call about the health response to COVID-19 and the Cuomo administration’s response to hate crimes against Asian Americans.
• Stalled public acknowledgment for Taiwan’s donation of 200,000 masks during the COVID-19 pandemic amid an anti-Asian backlash. Further efforts in Albany to send a public acknowledgment of Taiwan’s donation were met with Sun saying: "I’m still in charge of Asian affairs."

"By allegedly altering key political messages and decisions, this case highlights how Chinese operatives can manipulate U.S. political discourse to align with Beijing’s objectives, including on sensitive issues like Taiwan and Uyghur rights," Singleton told Newsday.

He referred to the mostly Muslim Uyghur, whom the S  tate Department said China subjects to abuse, including labor camps. The indictment said Sun deleted a reference to the Uyghurs in the 2021 Lunar New Year message by Hochul when she was lieutenant governor.

Human "assets" within government cannot only influence policy, but also be tools in the high-stakes world of international business and governments that work closely with high-tech employers, said Michael Balboni, former homeland security adviser to Cuomo and a cable TV news commentator on national security issues.

"Everything the federal government is saying about this case has all the earmarks of a sophisticated run-of-the-mill intelligence operation targeting state and city governments," Balboni said. "This is a concerted effort and economic warfare for a state like New York that is home to some of the largest corporations in the world."

The high-profile arrest has shocked Albany.

Sun was once praised by an unnamed Chinese operative as China’s "most important hub" in the New York governor’s office, according to the indictment. Hochul in a news conference last week described Sun’s role as a liaison to the Asian community who also worked on "global trade issues."

"I think it was fair to call everything a complete surprise," said Rich Azzopardi, a former top adviser to Cuomo. "Personally speaking ... there should be a wider look at everything."

After unspecified issues of "misconduct" were discovered in Hochul's executive chamber, Sun was transferred to the Labor Department, according to the indictment.

She was fired in March 2023 after she was questioned by the state Inspector General about attending a pro-China demonstration "purporting to represent herself" as a state agency official. During the questioning, she denied inquiries about issuing phony proclamations from governors.

In both administrations, Sun was a valued connection to the Asian American community and its voters and campaign contributors, said current and former executive chamber workers. Sun’s work also involved members of long-established and legal Asian American organizations that focus on helping immigrants and promoting Asian American culture, the former workers said.

State Sen. John Liu (D-Queens) issued a caution.

"I’ve worked with Linda Sun for many years and have only known her to be diligent, professional and conscientious, and she is absolutely innocent until proven guilty," Liu said in a statement. "The federal government has a sordid track record of making accusations against accomplished Chinese-Americans, only to drop all charges, with no regard to lives and careers destroyed needlessly."

Wilder also warned against unfairly targeting Chinese Americans, but said states need to face this new threat.

“I have met with a lot of state governments and the awareness level just isn’t there,” Wilder said. “I think one of the problems of state government is that they don’t have a security vetting process that goes very deep. So, it's difficult for a state to detect.”

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.