The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco is in Japantown.
A Chinese national who took refuge in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after allegedly lying to investigators about her Chinese military service was arrested and will appear in court on Monday, according to a senior Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Thursday evening, the FBI arrested Tang, who had avoided arrest by taking refuge in the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco. If convicted, Tang faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Juan Tang is one of four individuals recently charged with visa fraud in connection with a scheme to lie about their status as members of the People’s Republic of China’s military forces, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), while in the United States conducting research.
Three of these individuals -- Xin Wang, Chen Song and KaiKai Zhao -- were arrested earlier. The arrests were described as “a microcosm of a broader network of individuals in more than 25 cities,” the Justice Department official said.
According to court documents unsealed earlier this week in the Eastern District of California, Tang, was a researcher at the University of California, Davis. She applied for a nonimmigrant J1 visa in October 2019, in which she disavowed any connection with the Chinese military. The visa was issued in November 2019 and Tang entered the United States a month later.
An FBI investigation learned that Tang was an officer of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force after photographs of her were uncovered on electronic media seized in accordance with a search warrant.
“I won’t discuss the circumstances of the arrest,” said the official, who spoke to NBC, adding that the individual did not have diplomatic immunity. The person said that the details of the arrest could be released when the defendant appears before the Eastern District of California court on Monday.
“The issue here is that their true status wasn’t disclosed by visa application,” the official said, adding that the arrest was not a tit-for-tat move as tensions between Washington and Beijing simmer.
“By their very nature consulates are a base of operations for foreign governments to the United States, including their intelligence services and it’s understood that there will be some activity here by those services,” the person said.
“But because of their location within the United States and their status of sovereign territory of a foreign country, they can be exploited and the espionage and influence activities run out of a consulate can rise, ultimately to a level that threatens our national security,” the person added.
An FBI investigation learned that Tang was an officer of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force after photographs of her were uncovered on electronic media seized in accordance with a search warrant.
“I won’t discuss the circumstances of the arrest,” said the official, who spoke to NBC, adding that the individual did not have diplomatic immunity. The person said that the details of the arrest could be released when the defendant appears before the Eastern District of California court on Monday.
“The issue here is that their true status wasn’t disclosed by visa application,” the official said, adding that the arrest was not a tit-for-tat move as tensions between Washington and Beijing simmer.
“By their very nature consulates are a base of operations for foreign governments to the United States, including their intelligence services and it’s understood that there will be some activity here by those services,” the person said.
“But because of their location within the United States and their status of sovereign territory of a foreign country, they can be exploited and the espionage and influence activities run out of a consulate can rise, ultimately to a level that threatens our national security,” the person added.
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