A U.S. citizen accused of working with the Chinese Communist Party to suppress political dissenters has been arrested by federal authorities.
Litang Liang – a resident of Brighton in Boston, Massachusetts – was indicted Tuesday, charged with plans to act as an agent of a foreign government.
"Litang Liang knowingly acted and caused others to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government, namely, the People's Republic of China, without providing prior notification to the United States Attorney General, as required by law," the U.S. District Court wrote in its indictment.
Liang is accused of acting as an agent of the People's Republic of China beginning in or around 2018.
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The U.S. District Court handling the case alleges Lian monitored and reported on individuals and organizations for the CCP.
He is also accused of organizing a counter protest to U.S. pro-democracy dissidents and providing information on potential recruits.
"Liang communicated with the PRC government officials – knowing them to be PRC government officials – in several ways," the court wrote in its indictment. "These included telephone calls and messages using the social media application WeChat [...] All WeChat communications are stored on servers outside the United States."
Liang co-founded the New England Alliance for the Peaceful Unification of China in January 2019. He served as vice president of the pro-PRC, anti-Taiwanese independence organization through at least 2021.
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Working with the Chinese Consulate based in New York, Liang was allegedly tasked with information gathering by a series of PRC officials of different ranks, as well as the United Front Work Department.
