US charges American government official in Beijing scheme to harass Chinese dissidents

Indictment alleges the official and a retired agent passed information from restricted federal database to other defendants seeking to surveil activists in US

The two arrested men affiliated with the Homeland Security Department are accused of lying to FBI agents about their involvement in the Beijing-backed scheme

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Breon Peace (centre), US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, outside the courthouse in Brooklyn. Peace says his office will always work to root out corrupt officials. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 1:00am, 8 Jul 2022Updated: 3:39pm, 8 Jul 2022

The United States government has brought criminal charges against a US homeland security official and a retired law enforcement agent over their alleged involvement in a plot to harass US-based Chinese dissidents on behalf of the Chinese government.

An indictment returned by a grand jury on Wednesday alleged that the two men had passed along information on Chinese dissidents from a restricted federal database to other defendants seeking to surveil US-based pro-democracy activists.

The two men – Craig Miller, a 15-year employee of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Derrick Taylor, a retired DHS official – were both accused of lying to FBI agents about their involvement in the scheme and charged with obstructing justice. Miller was also accused of destroying evidence.

If convicted, Miller and Taylor face up to 20 and 25 years’ imprisonment, respectively.

The charges represent the latest in a string of actions by the administration of US President Joe Biden to counter what US officials call a campaign of “transnational repression” by Beijing, accusations the Chinese government has roundly denied.