New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose former senior aide has been accused in an alleged major Chinese influence operation, said Wednesday that she asked the State Department to expel a senior Chinese diplomat involved in the scandal, only to find he had left the country without incident just days ago.
The State Department denied the official, Consul General Huang Ping, had been expelled and said the departure from the United States was a “routine,” end-of-service rotation.
“I conveyed my desire to have the consul general from the People’s Republic of China and the New York mission expelled, and I’ve been informed that the consul general is no longer in the New York mission,” Ms. Hochul told reporters after speaking Wednesday with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the Biden administration’s most senior China policymaker.
At the State Department, spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Mr. Huang had departed the U.S. at the end of August. “There was no expulsion action,” he said.
The diplomat’s uneventful departure could be a sign of the Biden administration’s recent approach seeking to avoid upsetting relations with Beijing after rising bilateral tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea and Chinese government-linked hacking operations targeting U.S. critical infrastructure.
The governor’s remarks followed the arrest Tuesday on Long Island of Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to Ms. Hochul, and her husband, Chris Hu. The couple were charged with acting as unregistered Chinese agents for working to influence New York state policy in support of Beijing’s objectives.
In exchange, U.S. prosecutors said, they received millions of dollars through Chinese businesses that were used to buy a $3.5 million home on Long Island, a $1.9 million condominium in Honolulu and a 2024 Ferrari.
Ms. Hochul said at a news conference she spoke with a high-ranking State Department official, later identified as Mr. Campbell, at the request of Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding Mr. Huang’s status. Asked by a reporter if Mr. Huang was expelled, the governor said, “I know that they’re no longer in their position. That’s all I know.”
“I believe that the Chinese government, with their behavior, in doing this and working with Linda Sun, is not acceptable – it is a statement by us that we’re not tolerating this. Anybody representing that government needs to move on. That was what we made clear,” she said.
Since 2021, the administration has not expelled any Chinese intelligence or diplomatic personnel as part of its effort to ease relationship tension following the summit in California between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2023.
The last time Chinese diplomats were expelled was during the Trump administration. In July 2020, when then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shut down the Chinese consulate in Houston and ordered all its personnel to leave. The action was based on U.S. intelligence that the consulate had become a hub for intelligence-gathering.
Ms. Hochul said Wednesday the Linda Sun case was “shocking in its scale.”
Ms. Sun “was involved in making a lot of decisions related to the relationship between the administration at the time and the Chinese government promoting Chinese viewpoints and giving them proclamations and visas,” she said. The operation also sought to diminish New York state relations with Taiwan.
The state government immediately alerted authorities to the activities of Ms. Sun, leading to her exposure and arrest, the governor said.
“I would also just say this: To think that any foreign agent, any foreign government has the audacity to infiltrate a government organization like the State of New York has to be addressed,” Ms. Hochul said.
Ms. Sun and Mr. Hu pleaded not guilty and were released on bond.
The indictment said Ms. Sun was in “frequent communication” with Mr. Huang. He is identified by prosecutors as a high-ranking official at the New York consulate, and it was his personal chef who allegedly delivered Nanjing-style salted ducks to Ms. Sun’s parents as part of the payouts to the couple for their work.
The indictment also states that Ms. Sun gave Mr. Huang an official gubernatorial proclamation without authorization. She also provided him with an official proclamation after she had left the governor’s office but continued work in the state Department of Labor.
Mr. Hu was charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
A lawyer for Ms. Sun, Jarrod Schaeffer, told CNN the charges “are inflammatory and appear to be the product of an overly aggressive prosecution.”
“We are also troubled by aspects of the government’s investigation. As we said today in court, our client is eager … to defend against these accusations in the proper forum – a court of law,” Mr. Schaeffer said.
Seth DuCharme, a lawyer for Mr. Hu told reporters outside court Tuesday: “We have a lot of confidence in our case.”
“A lot of the allegations in this indictment are frankly perplexing, overly inflammatory,” he said. “As you heard in court today, we are looking forward to our day in court. The defendants are exercising their right to a speedy trial as soon as they can; we have a lot of confidence in Chris and in Linda.”
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the government was unaware of the New York influence accusations.
“I am not aware of the situation you mentioned,” she said. “I will not comment on the domestic cases in the United States, but we oppose malicious associations and slander against China.”
Ms. Hochul said her office has been working with the Justice Department on the case.
She declined to comment when asked about the misconduct that led to the firing of Ms. Sun.
Ms. Sun also worked for Gov. Andrew Cuomo prior to joining the Hochul administration.
“She primarily worked for Andrew Cuomo for many more years,” Ms. Hochul said. “She was with me just a short time, about 15 months.”
“But, again, I would just say this, the scope of what she was capable of doing is shocking. I’m furious, outraged by this behavior and we’ll let the process play out.”
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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