Ping Li, 59, of Wesley Chapel, Florida, immigrated to the US from China and had worked for an unnamed “major” US telecoms company and an international IT firm.
Since at least 2012, Li passed along information about Chinese dissidents, pro-democracy advocates, and members of the Falun Gong religious movement to China’s civilian intelligence bureau, the Ministry of State Security (MSS).
According to the Justice Department, in addition to information on dissidents, Chinese officials also requested information from Li concerning his employers' cybersecurity training materials and hacking events where US companies were targeted.
Li was sentenced to 48 months in prison, fined $250,000 and ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
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The Justice Department said the MSS often employs “cooperative contacts” located in countries outside of China to further its intelligence goals, including obtaining information related to foreign corporations or political dissidents residing in those countries.
The agency said Li served as such from at least as early as 2012, using a variety of anonymous online accounts to communicate with Chinese officials and even travelled to China to meet with MSS operatives.
Details of Li’s espionage efforts were made public following his sentencing, including a request from Chinese officials dated March 2015 for information on Li’s US telecoms employer after it launched services in China.
Li also supplied Chinese security authorities with information on the addresses of Chinese citizens who fled the country to the US.
Chiefly, he provided information on dissidents and members of Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement that opposes the Chinese Communist Party.
The Chinese government previously branded Falun Gong as an “evil cult” and that it actively colluded with “anti-China” forces.
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