REPOST: Chinese Tech Agent in Hong Kong Used Drones and Corrupt U.S. Officials to Spy on Americans — Including Olympic Gold Medalist Alysa Liu

The case of "Boss Sun" and United Nations operative Fan Liu exposes Beijing’s reach into U.S. law enforcement and diaspora communities.

Editor’s Note

We are republishing below one of the most extensive investigative reports to date on this particular PRC transnational repression operation, in part because one of its targets, Alysa Liu, has emerged as not only the Olympic gold medal winner but a champion of democracy versus authoritarian transnational repression. Liu has won gold in women’s singles figure skating at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, making her story not only a personal triumph and a victory for American sport, but one of the most remarkable geopolitical narratives of these Games.

To understand the full weight of what was done to this family, readers must understand the operation in its entirety: the corrupted U.S. law enforcement officers, the Hong Kong-based tech executive directing payments and surveillance from abroad, the drones, the database breaches, the fake journalists, the witness intimidation, and the involvement of a corrupt false media organization placed within the United Nations ecosystem in New York, a hotbed of Chinese espionage operation. The attack on Liu and other Americans who migrated from China was not a limited operation. It was a methodical, well-funded apparatus — and the Liu family was squarely in its crosshairs.

Arthur Liu is the man who stood against the Chinese Communist Party at Tiananmen Square in 1989, fled China as a political refugee, and rebuilt his life in the San Francisco Bay Area, raising Alysa and four other children as a single father. That history never left him — or Beijing. When Alysa made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games at just 16 years old, her father told the Associated Press that he believed the alleged spy operation was designed to “intimidate us” — to ensure the family would not “say anything political or related to human rights violations in China.” The tactics used against them on American soil are detailed extensively in this story. A former Homeland Security Investigations agent turned private investigator, allegedly used government contacts to obtain the family’s passport numbers and personal records. A man posing as a U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee official called Arthur Liu directly and asked for their passport information — a request Arthur refused. Investigators revealed that Chinese government operatives had been monitoring an Instagram post in which Alysa had raised awareness of human rights violations against the Uyghur people in China. At the Beijing Games themselves, Alysa said she was approached by a man who asked her to follow him to his apartment.This is the backdrop against which she skated her way to gold four years later in Milan.

And it is worth pausing on the larger meta-narrative these Games have told. On one side: Eileen Gu, the American-born freestyle skier who chose to compete for China, and whom Beijing paid and promoted as a symbol of Chinese soft power and the allure of the motherland. As security experts have noted, China’s regime argues perversely that anyone of Chinese heritage, living abroad, still owes loyalty to the motherland. This is the context of the Chinese secret police’s targeting of Alysa Liu and her father.

These two stories, taken together, land on opposite sides of one of the most consequential geopolitical fault lines of our time.

Mar 4, 2025 — NEW YORK

It began with an incendiary sculpture titled CCP Virus, erected in the Mojave Desert, midway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The June 2021 piece, created by Chinese democracy activist Chen Weiming, depicted President Xi Jinping’s face merging into a COVID-19 cell. It stood for only a few weeks before being burned to the ground. But an ultra-sensitive FBI counterintelligence probe determined this was no ordinary act of vandalism. Instead, it exposed the chilling reach of China’s secret police into the lives of Americans—and Beijing’s relentless drive to suppress criticism of its global influence.

The U.S. government unraveled an alleged conspiracy with tentacles extending into the United Nations and Beijing’s United Front Work Department, implicating corrupted U.S. law enforcement and private investigators who, authorities say, were working for a Chinese tech businessman beyond the reach of American justice in Hong Kong. The audacious plot revealed that American citizens—driven by greed, traitorous loyalty to Beijing, or even a perverse sense of thrill in carrying out clandestine missions against fellow Americans—ultimately answered to handlers in Beijing. These operatives, acting on offshore bounties transferred via wire payments, were tasked with surveilling, threatening, and harassing critics of the Chinese government.

The Bureau’s analysis presents expert insight into the vast, unofficial intelligence machinery President Xi has deployed on American soil. This apparatus leverages Chinese American citizens—motivated by cash or a misplaced patriotism for the “motherland”—who are directed by Chinese technology employees acting as outsourced spy bosses for Beijing’s security arms. These efforts allegedly extend to bribing current and former American law enforcement officers to breach the constitutionally protected privacy of dissidents like Chen Weiming by the pillaging of U.S. government databases to spy on Chinese migrants. The allegations get worse, even extending into the intimidation of a witness by a weapons-bearing former Homeland Security agent, now working as a process server in California.

And while portions of the FBI’s investigation—still largely concealed in the sealed case ahead of a 2026 trial—outline sophisticated operations involving fake Chinese media entities linked to United Nations influence efforts, The Bureau’s review of open-source records suggests that these New York-based networks not only spread disinformation targeting nations like Japan but also actively seek engagement on climate change and U.S.-China relations with high-profile American and UN figures, including former Secretary of State John Kerry.

At the center of the conspiracy is Fan “Frank” Liu, a 62-year-old resident of Jericho, Long Island, originally from the People’s Republic of China. Liu serves as president of two United Nations-affiliated entities, Congress Web TV Station and the World Harmony Foundation—organizations that burnish his image and allegedly facilitate clandestine transfer and influence plots as he operated as an unregistered agent of the PRC. Court records show Liu is charged with conspiring to travel interstate and abroad to harass critics of China, conspiring to commit an offense against the United States by allegedly conspiring to bribe an Internal Revenue Service agent, and unlawfully using personal identifying information. Investigators allege that Liu and his wife have for years received significant wire transfers from Hong Kong-based sources—totaling in the millions—while directing operations targeting individuals who speak out against Beijing. The couple’s properties in New York and Florida are also subject to the case.

Documents in the case portray Qiang “Jason” Sun–a.k.a. “Boss Sun”–as a key figure in the conspiracy. Employed by an unnamed but internationally recognized PRC-headquartered technology company, Sun appears in FBI affidavits as the prime organizer and funder of the espionage effort. Using geolocated communications, the FBI traced Sun to Hong Kong and Macau, describing his real-time coordination with Liu, dispensing instructions and making payments. Charging documents outline a clandestine hierarchy and an unbroken chain of communications, suggesting Sun serves as a cutout for the Chinese government—shielding official PRC agencies from direct involvement while orchestrating operations from afar.

While the sabotage of Chen Weiming’s desert sculpture lit the fuse on this case, the broader accusations paint an elaborate portrait of transnational repression. Prosecutors outline text messages, covert payments, and carefully orchestrated stings involving an undercover FBI cooperating investigator.

One key FBI assessment centers on a recorded exchange in which Liu explained why a private Chinese company—Sun’s employer—would run such an operation on the government’s behalf. Asked if the PRC was subcontracting, Liu responded: “Yes, yes a lot of company because they want to do something good to government. So they help them—just like we’re an NGO we do something good for the United Nations... business people if it looks good the government will like it. If the government likes it they can get better business. They want to do something to pull up money to hire you to do something and the government is happy.”

As the plan unfolded, authorities say Fan Liu enlisted the services of Matthew Ziburis, a former Florida corrections officer who later worked in private security. Prosecutors contend he was hired to spy on and sabotage Chen Weiming—posing as a phony art dealer suddenly fascinated with Chen’s work. The government alleges that at Sun’s direction, Ziburis installed hidden cameras and a GPS device on Chen’s car.

In a secretly recorded conversation between the FBI informant and Liu and Ziburis, the FBI says Liu explained how China employed people like himself effectively as bounty hunter proxies on U.S. soil, to target people such as Chen.

“A lot of those countries—some clients, some rich people, some politicians—they want to investigate. A lot of people come here, they investigate these people, some take their money, they come here, try to chase the money.”

“That's a huge market, not just China but also other countries,” Liu continued. “We don’t care which party you are, we don’t care. Give us the job, pay us, and we investigate. These guys are dead wrong. Where is it? Get you. That’s it. We don’t involve in political. We just do our tactical part.”

Indicating the chilling plan to use drones to surveil Chen Weiming, on March 18, 2021, Liu wrote to Ziburis:

"Boss [Sun] says we need a smart GPS installed within two weeks at the latest, plus a monitoring device under his steering wheel, as you suggested. Driving his car … is the most important mission—you should finish it by this afternoon. How long is the route from his gate to the studio? Where and how will you use drones to follow him without him noticing? Since you have his home address, maybe Boss [Sun] just needs you to set up another camera near his house and fly drones over it to capture video to show him how they work. Can you complete all of this today? You can fly back tonight."

Evidence suggests surveillance footage from Chen’s studio and GPS trackers fixed to his vehicle provided instant updates on the dissident’s movements, strongly suggesting that “Boss Sun” could have visually monitored Chen’s movements from Hong Kong.

In one series of messages from March and April 2021, Liu reminded Ziburis that it was crucial to lure Chen into photographs with the sculpture that made him a target of President Xi’s intelligence arms.

On March 1, 2021, according to the FBI, Liu sent a photo of Chen’s sculpture and called it “the most important one about Covid virus with head of state.” Liu wrote: “You ask him stay next to it with agent & take photo of both.” He then shared the address of Chen’s “main park” and pointed to more sculptures in another location.

Directing Ziburis to present himself as a wealthy potential sponsor for Chen’s art, Fan Liu texted: “All his art about democratization, Nancy Pelosi is the big democracy, so you mention your Jewish boss is the one help her win the vote, that is why she want boss invest democracy museum.”

The digital communications reveal that Liu arranged a $1,500 retainer for an IRS document search on Chen. Liu’s message to “Boss Sun” spelled out their goal: “Based on his high price quotes for his artwork, we believe he definitely took in a large sum and evaded taxes, a major crime in the U.S. After obtaining evidence, spend money for court and attorney fees to totally get rid of him.”

Liu’s communications with Sun outlined a highly detailed surveillance and intelligence-gathering operation targeting Chen Weiming. The directives ordered an operative, referred to as "the foreigner" [Ziburis], to collect sensitive personal and financial information, including acquiring Chen’s home and business addresses, obtaining recent photographs of him, determining the market value of his artwork, including the number of completed pieces. Ziburis was also instructed to secure Chen’s business and personal phone numbers and to retrieve his Social Security number—an especially sensitive task that, according to Liu, required leveraging contacts within the FBI or local police. The price tag for this service was set at $10,000, plus an identical amount as a fee for both Liu and his associate.

Additionally, Liu’s message demanded copies of Chen’s tax records from 2019 and 2020, with another $5,000 fee for each participant involved in retrieving the documents. The scheme extended into real-time tracking, with instructions for a designated individual to tail Chen for three days, capture photographs and video footage, and document his movements.

In what Liu described as the “late-stage process,” the focus shifted to leveraging Chen’s finances as a means of legal entrapment. Liu framed the objective clearly: if they could uncover any financial discrepancies, they would escalate matters by engaging legal authorities.

The plan’s devious nature was unmistakable in Liu’s final sentence:

“Once we find evidence, we can work with the FBI, court, and law firm to file charges against him. There will be so much fun!”

In a smoking gun exchange, Liu itemized payments for accessing Chen’s private data. On March 11, 2021, an Investigator (ultimately cooperating with the FBI) emailed Liu an invoice showing a “retainer payment of $1500.00 for the IRS document search for [the artist Chen].” Four days later, Congress Web TV Station Inc.—an entity under Liu’s control—transferred $1,500 to this Investigator via a digital payment platform. The Investigator responded, “I am paying the contact at the IRS cash tomorrow.”

FBI filings note, “Notably, the investigation has uncovered wire transfers to accounts associated with LIU, LIU’s wife, and (Ziburis) that appear consistent with payments made for their services rendered in surveilling and harassing the U.S.-based dissidents. (Ziburis) appears to have earned more than $100,000, while accounts associated with LIU and LIU’s spouse have received wire transfers from, among other accounts, certain Hong Kong-based accounts, in excess of $3 million.”

Months after Chen Weiming’s CCP Virus sculpture was destroyed, the FBI alleges that Liu and Ziburis escalated their operations, launching an elaborate surveillance, entrapment, and discrediting campaign against a target identified as “Dissident 2” in Indiana. This plot, directed by “Boss Sun” through Fan Liu, again touched on Nancy Pelosi, suggesting perhaps an obsessive focus by Chinese intelligence on one of American politics’ strongest supporters of democracy in Taiwan. The chilling plan included using fake journalists, covert surveillance, and invasive, aggressive spying.

According to the FBI, in October 2021, Liu directed one investigator working undercover for the FBI to “Conduct surveillance on the Dissident’s home, taking photos and/or video of Dissident 2 and Dissident 2’s family and luring Dissident 2 out of his home by posing as a delivery person.”

Later, in an email to Liu, Ziburis outlined a plan to arrive at Dissident 2’s location with a group of journalists, bringing hidden microphones and cameras, and attempting to secretly plant them inside or around the residence. Ziburis further detailed that, during the interview, he would evaluate whether it was possible to place surveillance cameras inside the house. If necessary, he planned to return after dark to install additional equipment, but first needed to assess Dissident 2’s existing security system. He noted that the target had at least one external camera and that he would determine the feasibility of installing covert cameras based on this setup. Additionally, Ziburis proposed placing a GPS tracker on Dissident 2’s vehicle and later using drones to conduct aerial surveillance of the backyard, capturing as much footage as possible. He intended to track the target’s movements via the GPS device, photographing his locations and associates whenever possible.

That same day, Liu instructed Ziburis to delay any approach until he received further confirmation from their handler, “Boss” Sun. In an effort to manufacture a plausible pretext for the interview, Liu suggested a fake documentary project titled The Democracy Hero of Chinese America in the USA, offering small payments to participating students in exchange for their cooperation.

In another email, Liu proposed that Ziburis exploit ties to U.S. political figures, suggesting that he claim the interview was part of a production supported by Fan Liu’s Congress TV.

On the same day, Liu forwarded Ziburis a list of questions for the interview, allegedly dictated by Sun. Among them was a leading question on Sino-U.S. relations: “Can China avoid the ‘Great Flood’ by fully adopting American values and institutions?” The accompanying notes labeled this question as an “ambush,” designed to force Dissident 2 into making a politically damaging statement. The strategy was to manipulate his response—whether he argued that “Americanization can be avoided” or that “it is inevitable”—in a way that could be spun to discredit him publicly.

The FBI further claims Ziburis used drone surveillance and also tried to trick a prominent figure skater, identified as Alysa Liu, by impersonating a U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee official seeking personal details.

Another remarkable figure emerged in the alleged scheme against Liu and her father: Derrick Taylor, a former Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent turned private investigator and process server. Court documents accuse Taylor of bribing contacts within the US government to retrieve travel records, passport numbers, and other private data belonging to perceived dissidents. In one message from July 16, 2021, Taylor asked a government contact, “Is there a quick way that I can check if some guy[’]s departed to China?” and followed up by offering cigars or tequila. A co-conspirator later asked Taylor to obtain two passport numbers—those of Dissident 3 and the dissident’s daughter—for $800. In court, prosecutors stated Taylor tried to obstruct the probe by lying about the source of his data, claiming at one point he got it from “the Black Dark Web.”

Prosecutors allege he also could have intimidated a witness.

“We have a specific concern that [Taylor] has attempted to tamper with the witness, and the witness is actually quite scared of future contact from Mr. Taylor,” prosecutor Benjamin Solomon told the court.

The prosecutor continued to argue, “I also dispute whether this defendant needs a firearm for work. If he has to relinquish certain jobs, that is not being unemployed. Further, if this defendant is convicted of these charges—and the evidence we outlined in our letter is very strong and includes recorded conversations—he also made false statements to a law enforcement officer, which are easily provable as false. He’s going to have to relinquish the weapon once he’s convicted, and he’s going to have to figure out how to be a private investigator without a firearm for the rest of his life.”

Also ensnared is Craig Miller, a deportation officer in Minneapolis, identified as Taylor’s accomplice in these alleged unauthorized database searches.

Meanwhile, the case against Fan “Frank” Liu in the Eastern District of New York led to stiff release conditions. At a bail hearing in March 2022, prosecutors demanded a one-million-dollar bond secured by Liu’s properties and barred him from entering PRC consulates. Calling Liu a severe flight risk, they warned, “To flee in this case... the Defendant need only go to the PRC consulate in Manhattan.” Liu’s lawyer challenged the government’s characterization: “There’s an allegation in the complaint that he was being directed by co-defendant Jason Sun, who—and I quote—‘is a PRC national and appears to act as an intermediary between the PRC government and Liu.’ This is a complaint that was sworn to a week ago. The allegation that there’s millions of dollars passing through Mr. Liu’s hands is unfounded. There’s no evidence suggesting that he has anything close to those funds.”

Throughout it all, the World Harmony Foundation—an NGO under Liu’s leadership—appears to have served as yet another conduit for his purported dealings. It boasts affiliations with the United Nations, posts photos of high-ranking PRC officials at its events, and suggests a mission consistent with Beijing’s foreign-policy goals. The foundation’s website displays an image of U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry ringing a “Harmony Bell” at COP26 on November 11, 2021, accompanied by a caption indicating he held a brief exchange with Liu about harmony and environmental protection.

While evidence strongly suggests Fan Liu had deep, long-standing ties with Chinese United Front and intelligence handlers—and the ability to direct networks of current and former U.S. officials, including some licensed to carry firearms—Liu’s defense counsel, however, minimized the alleged plot.

“And here, it indicates that there are payments of $1,500 being made to a private investigator to obtain public records about these individuals. They describe an act of vandalism of a work of art by a not particularly famous Chinese artist. It’s just—this just doesn’t make out conduct anywhere near on the scale that the Government would suggest in this colloquy that they delivered,” his lawyer told the court.

On the contrary, for observers familiar with the growing possibility—based on assessments by the CIA, FBI, and other agencies—that COVID-19 may have leaked from a Chinese research facility, the destruction of Chen’s prescient protest art takes on an even more ominous significance. Should the United States eventually seek redress or reparations from Beijing for pandemic damages, the targeted elimination of artwork highlighting the virus’s origins would no longer seem like petty vandalism but rather a consequential act of transnational repression, all of which, experts say, ultimately serve to protect the Chinese Communist regime.

Meanwhile, Fan Liu, whose trial is expected in 2026, appears sometimes to be less the proxy spymaster of Beijing and more of a pathetic figure who failed to understand that freedom is more than an abstract value for Americans.

A February 2025 filing from his latest lawyer, Peter Katz, suggests that Liu has either run out of funds, or perhaps is hiding his wealth. Despite allegations that Liu and his spouse had received over $3 million via wire transfers, Liu apparently now claimed insufficient resources to retain private counsel. Documents also show in 2023 Liu unsuccessfully attempted to retain a lawyer from Goa, India, to provide pro bono services.

Last week, citing an irreconcilable breakdown in communication with Liu, Katz withdrew, writing: “I do not believe Mr. Liu has sufficient funds to hire a new attorney, I believe he will be eligible for appointed counsel.”