China quickly and quietly removed their consul general in New York from his position on Wednesday. A former aide to Governor Kathy Hochul just got busted by the FBI for taking lavish gifts from the Chinese. Huang Ping must have been tied up in the scandal somewhere. It’s making Governor Kathy Hochul look bad, so she called Antony Blinken and gave him an earful, forcing him to lean on his diplomatic counterparts. Her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, looks even worse. Blinky doesn’t get along real well with the Chinese so he told her who to call and she berated them personally.
China removes diplomat
China has removed their consul general in New York from his position. The September 4 move comes in the wake of a former aide for New York governors Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo being charged by the feds for “acting as an agent for the Chinese government.”
Hochul held a press conference to set the record straight. No matter what Linda Sun peddled to the Pooh Bear, it wasn’t her. She’s on the offensive to show there’s no need to be defensive.
Hochul explained that mere moments before she came out to meet the press she was on the horn to Beijing. Specifically, “she was on the phone with a high-ranking State Department official at the request of Antony Blinken about Huang Ping’s removal.”
They listened. Hochul adds that during the phone call she “conveyed my desire to have the consul general from the People’s Republic of China at the New York Mission expelled, and I’ve been informed that the consul general is no longer in the New York Mission.”
Whatever Linda Sun and her husband had been up to, it wasn’t good. The feds aren’t revealing much. The press asked Governor Hochul how Huang Ping fits into it and she showed she has an inkling what it was about but can’t say.
“I believe that the Chinese government, with their behavior, in doing this and working with Linda Sun, is not acceptable – it is a statement by us that we’re not tolerating this. Anybody representing that government needs to move on. That was what we made clear.” China isn’t saying much either.
FARA conspiracy and fraud
Hochul is in damage control mode ever since her former deputy chief of staff was arrested. Linda Sun was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registrations Act.
Along with visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy. China paid real well for her services.
The indictment was just unsealed September 3, and also names her husband, Chris Hu, as a co-defendant. He’s separately charged with “money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification.”
It seems that “while working for state government, Sun influenced the messaging of high-level state officials regarding issues of importance to China.”
One of the things that’s really important to Beijing is Taiwan. Sun “blocked Taiwanese government representatives from access to the officials, and obtained official New York State proclamations for Chinese government representatives without authorization.”
The Chinese aren’t saying how their diplomat could be mixed up in this. They weren’t even aware they had an aide working for them. “I am not aware of the situation you mentioned,” spokesperson Mao Ning said, adding, “I will not comment on the domestic cases in the United States, but we oppose malicious associations and slander against China.“
