Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

1 day ago

Fresno Suspect Caught After Jumping Out of Second-Floor Window, 2 Others Arrested

2 days ago

Tesla Has Applied to Arizona for Robotaxi Service Certification, State Transport Department Says

2 days ago

Evacuations Ongoing as San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Scorches Tens of Thousands of Acres

2 days ago

US Senate to Vote on Trump Aid, Broadcasting Cuts as Deadline Looms

2 days ago

US Health Department Widens Immigrant Benefit Restrictions

2 days ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Stabbing That Left Man Critically Injured

2 days ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Next of Kin for North Fork Man

2 days ago

Froot Loops Maker WK Kellogg Agrees to $3.1 Billion Deal From Italy’s Ferrero

2 days ago

China Signals Willingness to Sell Fighter Jets as Iran Eyes J-10 Aircraft

2 days ago
US Citizen Accused of Spying on Behalf of Chinese Government
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 1, 2019

Share

SAN FRANCISCO — A California man who operates tours for Chinese students and visitors was charged with being an illegal foreign agent and delivering classified U.S. national security information to officials in China, U.S. government officials announced Monday.

“We have criminal spies that are running around in our area of responsibility and it’s the FBI’s mission to stop this, so what’s going on in the rest of the world, it doesn’t matter to us.” — John Bennett, the FBI agent in charge of San Francisco
U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson accused Xuehua Edward Peng, 56, of a “combination of age-old spycraft and modern technology.”
“The charges announced today provide a rare glimpse into the secret efforts of the People’s Republic of China to obtain classified national security information from the United States,” Anderson said.
The U.S. is engaged in a trade war with China, but John Bennett, the FBI agent in charge of San Francisco, said international politics had nothing to do with the arrest and charges against Peng.
“We have criminal spies that are running around in our area of responsibility and it’s the FBI’s mission to stop this, so what’s going on in the rest of the world, it doesn’t matter to us,” he said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has said China poses a more serious counterintelligence threat to the United States than any other country, including Russia.

Multiple Cases Involving Chinese Espionage

In July, he testified before a Senate panel that the FBI had more than 1,000 investigations involving economic espionage and attempted intellectual property theft, nearly all of which lead back to China.
The Justice Department has brought multiple cases in the past year involving Chinese espionage and has also brought charges against operatives working with the Ministry of State Security as law enforcement officials grapple with how to deal with an increasing threat of China trying to steal information from American companies.
Last October, prosecutors charged a Chinese spy with attempting to steal trade secrets from several American aviation and aerospace companies, the first time an MSS operative was extradited to the U.S.
Anderson did not say how long Peng had been operating as a spy for China’s Ministry of State Security, only that the FBI employed a double agent in 2015 who conducted exchanges with Peng in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Columbus, Georgia.
Over six occasions between 2015 and 2018, Peng would secure a hotel room and leave up to $20,000 there, authorities said in the criminal complaint. The double agent would then get a key to the room, take the cash and leave a digital card containing information, it said.
Peng would then take the card and travel to Beijing to meet Chinese intelligence officers, authorities said.

He Could Face up to 10 Years in Prison

Authorities say the unnamed double agent went to the FBI in 2015 after China’s intelligence department tried to recruit the person as a spy.

Peng was arrested at his home Friday and ordered held without bond at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero. He is scheduled to return to court Wednesday.
The criminal complaint says Peng is a naturalized U.S. citizen who entered the country on a temporary business visitor visa and became a permanent resident in 2006. Peng was naturalized in September 2012.
He holds an acupuncturist license from the state.
Peng was arrested at his home Friday and ordered held without bond at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero. He is scheduled to return to court Wednesday.
Court records indicate Peng will be represented by the federal public defender’s office. The office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Qian Peng, the suspect’s daughter, said he could not comment because she had not seen the charges against him.
Anderson did not elaborate on Peng’s tour operations. Public records list Peng as president of U.S. Tour and Travel in San Francisco, but no website for the company was found in an online search.
If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Frazier Defends $894K Pay as Nonprofit Loses $1.1M, Blames City for Financial Struggles

DON'T MISS

Key Events in the Air India Crash Investigation

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police to Target Speeding in Saturday Traffic Operation

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Sentenced for Fatal DUI Crash That Took Mother, Daughter’s Lives

DON'T MISS

US Judge Grants Trump Admin Request to Scrap Biden-Era Medical Debt Rule

DON'T MISS

Madera County Authorities Searching for Felony Theft Suspect

DON'T MISS

Fallout Over Handling of Epstein Case Erupts Into the Open

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Billy Ray Maldonaldo

DON'T MISS

One California Worker Dead, Hundreds Arrested After Cannabis Farm Raid

DON'T MISS

Musk’s xAI Seeks up to $200 Billion Valuation in Next Fundraising, FT Reports

UP NEXT

One California Worker Dead, Hundreds Arrested After Cannabis Farm Raid

UP NEXT

Skydance in Early Talks to Acquire The Free Press, NYT Reports

UP NEXT

‘There Are No Red Lines Anymore’ Says UN Palestinian Rights Expert on US Sanctions

UP NEXT

Oil Rises Over 2% as Investors Weigh Market Outlook, Tariffs, Sanctions

UP NEXT

Trump Threatens Higher Tariffs on Canada in the Middle of Trade Talks

UP NEXT

Israeli “Humanitarian City” Plan in Gaza Sparks Outcry, Accusations of Creating Concentration Camps

UP NEXT

Zohran Mamdani Jolted Progressives. Can California Candidates Replicate His Success?

UP NEXT

State Department Starts Firing More Than 1,350 Workers

UP NEXT

Senate Panel Approves $500 Million Aid for Ukraine in Defense Bill

UP NEXT

UN Reports 798 Deaths Near Gaza Aid Hubs in Six Weeks

Trump’s Attorney General Drops Fraud Case Tied to COVID Vaccinations

40 minutes ago

Homeland Security’s Noem Says in Talks With Five Republican-Led States to Build Detention Site

43 minutes ago

Clovis Police Say Teen Changed Clothes, Hid After Reckless Riding Pursuit

45 minutes ago

Gaza Truce Talks Faltering Over Withdrawal, 17 Reported Killed in Latest Shooting Near Aid

51 minutes ago

Fresno Dog Left Behind After Owners Die Months Apart, Now Needs a Home

5 hours ago

Frazier Defends $894K Pay as Nonprofit Loses $1.1M, Blames City for Financial Struggles

22 hours ago

Key Events in the Air India Crash Investigation

22 hours ago

Fresno Police to Target Speeding in Saturday Traffic Operation

22 hours ago

Tulare County Man Sentenced for Fatal DUI Crash That Took Mother, Daughter’s Lives

22 hours ago

US Judge Grants Trump Admin Request to Scrap Biden-Era Medical Debt Rule

23 hours ago

US Online Spending Surges $24.1 Billion as Steep Discounts Boost Sales, Adobe Says

Online spending soared $24.1 billion across U.S. retailers during the stretch from July 8 to 11 – dubbed “Black Friday in Summer”...

31 minutes ago

Packages are transported on a conveyor belt at the Amazon warehouse on Prime Day, in Melville, New York, U.S., July 11, 2023. (Reuters File)
31 minutes ago

US Online Spending Surges $24.1 Billion as Steep Discounts Boost Sales, Adobe Says

Presenter Rosie O'Donnell speaks on stage about Madonna during the 30th annual GLAAD awards ceremony in New York City, New York, U.S., May 4, 2019. (Reuters File)
33 minutes ago

Trump Threatens to Revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US Citizenship

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the U.S. flag flying on a new flagpole after stepping off Marine One returning from New Jersey at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 6, 2025. (Reuters/Ken Cedeno)
37 minutes ago

Trump Intensifies Trade War With Threat of 30% Tariffs on EU, Mexico

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to the media in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025. (Reuters File)
40 minutes ago

Trump’s Attorney General Drops Fraud Case Tied to COVID Vaccinations

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference to discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s "National Farm Security Action Plan", outside the USDA in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. (Reuters File)
43 minutes ago

Homeland Security’s Noem Says in Talks With Five Republican-Led States to Build Detention Site

45 minutes ago

Clovis Police Say Teen Changed Clothes, Hid After Reckless Riding Pursuit

A Palestinian man from the Katoo family, with his son, mourns beside the body of his other son, who was killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid near a distribution point in Rafah, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
51 minutes ago

Gaza Truce Talks Faltering Over Withdrawal, 17 Reported Killed in Latest Shooting Near Aid

After losing both of his owners, a 5-year-old cattle dog named Ozzy found a second chance at happiness thanks to a local rescue group and a loving foster home. (Mell's Mutts)
5 hours ago

Fresno Dog Left Behind After Owners Die Months Apart, Now Needs a Home

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend