In May this year, the Intermediate People’s Court of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, convicted 78-year-old Hong Kong resident Liang Chengyun of espionage, sentencing him to life imprisonment and permanent deprivation of political rights. Today, China’s Ministry of State Security disclosed details of the case for the first time, indicating that Liang had been spying for the United States since 1989. His operations involved getting close to Chinese institutions and personnel based in the US, gathering intelligence, and even attempting to blackmail Chinese officials through explicit traps.
Liang was born in Hong Kong in 1945 and moved to a city in the central US in 1983 to run a restaurant. By 1986, US intelligence officials had contacted him multiple times, requesting his collaboration. In 1989, they formally signed a “cooperation agreement” with him, recruiting him as an informant. As part of the agreement, he was paid $1,000 monthly, with additional bonuses for performance. That year, Liang also became a US citizen. The US went to great lengths to craft a fabricated persona for him, including a background that falsely claimed he attended university in the UK, worked at the UN, and served in the Vietnam War. They even advised him to donate to US state legislators to increase his standing.
With US funding and direction, Liang took on numerous roles in Chinese overseas communities, serving as president, honorary president, and chairman of various associations. The US then steered him to China for charitable donations, aiming to establish a reputation for him as a “patriotic philanthropist.” With these disguises, Liang was directed by US intelligence to gather espionage information extensively within China.
The report also alleges that Liang utilized tactics like dining, celebrating holidays, and organizing overseas community events to get close to Chinese institutions and personnel in the US to gather intelligence. He kept close tabs on Chinese citizens in the US and reported his findings to US intelligence through encrypted phones and email. He would lead Chinese officials to restaurants or hotels equipped with surveillance devices by US intelligence, attempting to extract information or even set explicit traps to blackmail and coerce them.
Furthermore, Liang acted as bait for US intelligence’s “fishing law enforcement.” He was tasked to meet specific individuals, leading them into sensitive transactions to fabricate so-called “Chinese espionage cases.” Operating under the guidance of several US spies, Liang gathered a significant amount of intelligence on China for the US intelligence agencies, earning him a “Medal of Honor.”
The report concludes that in late 2020, amidst the pandemic and halted international flights, Liang was directed by US intelligence to infiltrate China to gather information. Using multiple IDs, he transited through Hong Kong to mainland China, attending numerous social events and interacting broadly with Chinese individuals from various sectors. After meticulous investigations, China’s national security agencies gathered extensive evidence of Liang’s espionage activities and took criminal enforcement actions, ultimately handing him over to the judiciary.