US ‘warns China over use of covert agents’

The Obama administration has warned China about the use of undercover operatives in the United States who are assigned to pressure Chinese fugitives to return home and in some cases to recover assets gained through alleged corruption, U.S. officials said.

According to the New York Times, which cited unnamed American officials, the operation is part of a global campaign launched by the Chinese government.

Although Beijing and Washington have signed partnerships in several areas including secret government intelligence practices, America and China do not have an extradition treaty.

U.S. officials told the Times that both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have been gathering information about the activities of Chinese agents in the U.S., interviewing several of the expatriates in the process.

Their tactics reportedly include threats to family members who remain in China.

The United States has its own history of sending operatives undercover to other nations – sometimes under orders to kidnap or kill.

Citing the Ministry of Public Security officials, The Times said over 930 suspects from across the world have been repatriated to China since last year under the program.

“Therefore, the United States, as a country that often stresses the rule of law, should clarify the issue and by no means become a safe haven for Chinese criminal suspects”, it said.

The US warning comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington next month.

Those being sought by China are believed to be prominent expatriates, some wanted for economic corruption or for what China considers political crimes, the Times reported.

U.S. officials declined to provide specific evidence of the activities of the agents, and discussed details of the operation only on the condition of anonymity because of the tense diplomacy surrounding the issue.

In December, the newspaper reported, Australia officially complained to the Beijing government after two Chinese agents arrived in Melbourne, without informing Australian authorities, to apprehend a Chinese national accused of bribery.

But China’s official news agency Xinhua described them as Chinese law enforcement and said they had been ordered by the United States to return home immediately.