FBI arrests prominent pro-Beijing Chinese American for obstructing justice.
Overseas Chinese Community Leaders Charged with Obstruction of Justice
Several overseas Chinese community leaders have recently been charged with failing to register as foreign agents and obstruction of justice, as they attempted to destroy evidence when being investigated by the FBI. A case in point is Michael Su (Chinese name is Zuqi Su), who was arrested on July 19 for attempting to obstruct justice while his possible role as a foreign agent remains under investigation.
Mr. Su, a Queens, New York resident, certainly is not an ordinary Chinese. According to a court filing, he owns a Chinese restaurant called Jasmine in Manhattan, which is adjacent to major financial institutions, foreign embassies, and the United Nations. It is particularly close to the Chinese Mission to the United Nations.
His restaurant was even featured in a 2018 article in China Daily’s English edition, which touted that Jasmine is “popular with U.N. diplomats in Midtown Manhattan.”
Related Stories
Mr. Su’s business empire is not just limited to a Chinese restaurant. The FBI is currently investigating an intermediary agency that he owns, which claims to be able to help students in China gain admission to elite U.S. schools.
The court filing did not provide the name of Mr. Su’s study abroad agent. However, Aiqicha, an enterprise query app developed by China’s search engine giant Baidu, listed a Shanghai-based company, Legendary Milestone Corporation, under Mr. Su. The company also has a registered address in New York on Roosevelt Ave., Flushing.
The query app revealed that Mr. Su registered another organization at the same address, China & Africa Innovation Alliance Ltd.
Mr. Su also serves as president of the North American Chinese Technology and Industry Association (NACASTC), which is said to be one of North America’s largest academic, technological, and business organizations. Its registered address is the same as that of Jasmine, the Chinese restaurant. The latter often served as the venue for some of the events organized by NACASTC.
Mr. Su also founded the Global Climate Innovation Center in August last year and presented a donation check for flood relief to the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in October of the same year.
‘Political and Business Network’
Legendary Milestone, Mr. Su’s study abroad agency, claims on its website that it provides individualized training that shapes students into international leadership elites and facilitates priority admissions to top overseas schools.
Its service also includes “background enhancement programs,” such as United Nations internships and recommendation letters written by ambassadors.
It said that the company can do such things because it “has a political and business network that is at the top of the pyramid.” It cited United Nations, the World Monetary Fund, and Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Tesla, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs as its cooperating organizations.
“Therefore, we are capable of creating internship and job referral opportunities for aspiring young people,” the website boasts.
Helping Recruit Overseas Talent
NACASTC also claims to be committed to providing a full range of services to bring overseas talents to China. For example, one of its 2016 blog posts wrote about a large-scale overseas talent recruitment event coming to New York and Boston with 16 Chinese universities and a big company specializing in business and marketing among the recruiters.
The post specifically made mention of the Thousand Talents Program, which seeks to entice expatriate Chinese scientists and researchers.
“Do you have a heart to serve your country even though you now reside in the U.S. imperialism? Do you feel like you have a lot of talents but feel disappointed because there is no room for you to display your talents in the United States? … Have you heard of China’s ‘Thousand Talents Program’ for top talents?’ Would you like to become one of those top talents?” the article said.
It has organized high-level international conferences, and some of the celebrity participants included former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, according to the post.
Although the organization’s website has already been deleted, the digital archive Wayback Machine could track its past contents, which showed that it has arranged for its clients to visit President George W. Bush Jr. and for Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau to visit New York City Police Department.
FBI Arrest
According to the indictment, a series of FBI actions culminated in the arrest of Mr. Su.
Around May, a witness reported that Mr. Su would return to China. Before leaving, Mr. Su gave the witness two iPhones to keep, saying that he was afraid the U.S. border authorities would inspect these iPhones during border crossings, as he did not want the U.S. government to find out what was on his phones.
Upon returning to the United States on July 18 through JFK international airport, Mr. Su agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the FBI, during which he admitted that it was fra
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Now loading...