Two CCP Agents Sentenced for Targeting Falun Gong in the United States

This month, two naturalized U.S. citizens were sentenced to prison for acting as agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in transnational repression operations targeting Falun Gong practitioners in the United States.

One of the individuals, Mr. Li Ping, a 59-year-old Florida resident and longtime Verizon employee, was sentenced to four years in prison on November 25. Li was convicted of assisting China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) in collecting intelligence on Chinese dissidents in the United States, including Falun Gong practitioners. He also provided cybersecurity training materials taken from his employer to the MSS.

The second individual, Mr. John Chen, 72, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for his role in a bribery scheme aimed at revoking the tax-exempt nonprofit status of Shen Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance company founded by Falun Gong practitioners. Between January 2023 and May 2023, Chen worked under the direction of a CCP official to bribe a purported IRS official with $50,000. Chen acted alongside Lin Feng, a Chinese national and U.S. permanent resident, who was sentenced to 16 months in prison on September 26, 2024.

Targeting Falun Gong Abroad

These incidents are part of a broader transnational repression campaign targeting Falun Gong practitioners worldwide. In June and July 2024, the Falun Dafa Information Center obtained leaked notes from internal meetings and reports at China’s Ministry of Public Security and a state-run think tank. These documents explicitly stated that the regime planned to escalate its strategy to “eliminate” Falun Gong globally, with a particular focus on the United States.

The notes detailed forthcoming tactics, including supporting anti-Falun Gong YouTubers, spreading false narratives through overseas media, and activating spies embedded within the Falun Gong community. Subsequent real-world events have aligned with these plans, featuring further escalations such as impersonations on X accounts, online harassment, and threats of deadly violence.

Other leaked CCP documents and speeches reveal that the regime views Shen Yun as a key target in its campaign to silence and “topple” Falun Gong abroad. A January 2024 report published by the Falun Dafa Information Center documented 18 years of CCP attempts to sabotage Shen Yun. The CCP has employed a variety of tactics—diplomatic pressure, economic threats, disinformation, and acts of sabotage—to obstruct Shen Yun performances.

This campaign against Shen Yun has spanned 38 countries, with over 130 documented incidents. The CCP perceives Shen Yun’s portrayal of authentic Chinese culture and its connection to Falun Gong practitioners as a threat to its global image. Despite these efforts, most theaters and governments have resisted the regime’s pressure, though some have succumbed and canceled performances.

Chinese Spy Sentenced in Florida

In an August hearing, Li Ping admitted to conspiring to act as a Chinese agent since at least 2012. He served as a cooperative contact under the direction of officers from the MSS, gathering intelligence of interest to the Chinese regime.

Li collected a wide range of information, including details about Chinese dissidents, pro-democracy advocates, Falun Gong practitioners, and U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, which he reported to the MSS. He also shared confidential information obtained from his employer. To maintain secrecy, Li used anonymous online accounts to communicate with the MSS and traveled to China to meet with MSS officers.

According to court filings, one of Li’s earliest assignments in 2012 was to gather information about lawsuits Falun Gong practitioners planned to file against Chinese government officials.

In April 2013, a Chinese officer directed Li to send public information and social media handles of two Israeli authors who had written books about Falun Gong. By September 2014, Li was tasked with investigating Falun Gong practitioners in the United States. The officer provided him with biographical details of a Falun Gong practitioner originally from Hubei, China, including the individual’s California home address, phone number, and the make and model of his car. Li further informed the MSS that this individual had protested outside a Chinese consulate in California.

Failed Attempt to “Topple” Falun Gong

On May 14, 2023, John Chen and Lin Feng met with an undercover FBI agent posing as an IRS official. They promised to pay the agent a total of $50,000 to initiate an audit against Shen Yun, a performing arts company linked to Falun Gong practitioners. During the meeting, Chen handed over a $1,000 cash bribe as an initial payment, pledging additional payments in future meetings. He also promised the agent 60% of any IRS whistleblower award if the complaint to revoke Shen Yun’s tax-exempt status succeeded.

At a second meeting on May 18 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Feng paid the undercover agent a $4,000 cash bribe to advance the scheme. According to the unsealed complaint, Chen obtained funding for the bribes from the Chinese government during trips to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Around the same time, Chen and Feng guaranteed third and fourth payments of $25,000 each, with Chen planning to return to China to secure additional funds. Feng was tasked with delivering the payments to New York upon Chen’s return.

Chen’s recorded conversations revealed the malicious intent behind this campaign, aimed at repressing and intimidating Falun Gong practitioners in the United States. He described his collaborators in the Chinese government as “blood brothers,” stating, “We started this fight against [the founder of Falun Gong] twenty, thirty years ago. They are always with us.”

Further, according to the prosecutor’s brief opposing bail for Lin Feng, both Chen and Feng traveled to New York to surveil Falun Gong practitioners in Orange County, New York. They collected information to support a potential environmental lawsuit designed to hinder the growth of the Falun Gong community in the area.

Chen is a known Party loyalist and one of the most outspoken anti-Falun Gong community leaders in Los Angeles. He previously met with former CCP head Hu Jintao and current leader Xi Jinping and boasts close ties to the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles.

Warning to CCP Operatives

These verdicts highlight not only the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing efforts to extend its reach beyond China’s borders, but they also serve as a clear and firm warning to CCP operatives who may be engaging in similar transnational repression activities.

The convictions of Chen, Feng, and their collaborators send an unambiguous message: the United States is committed to identifying, prosecuting, and holding foreign agents accountable for any attempts to suppress dissidence, intimidate targeted communities, or interfere in U.S. domestic affairs. Additionally, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order on November 18, 2024, targeting the Chinese Communist Party’s harassment of Texans, strengthening the state’s defense against foreign influence and ensuring the protection of citizens’ rights from such interference.

Indeed, their cases underscore the seriousness with which the U.S. takes foreign influence campaigns aimed at silencing Falun Gong practitioners and Chinese dissidents. The CCP’s attempts to control and silence diaspora will not go unchecked. For any current agents operating under the belief that they can conduct repressive operations in the United States with impunity, this serves as a warning of inevitable accountability.