The Obama administration is warning the Chinese government about sending agents to the United States who are trying to intimidate expatriates to return to China.
U.S. officials told
The New York Times, on the condition of anonymity, that Chinese agents are in the United States and around the world on covert operations in an effort to hunt down economic and political fugitives, allegedly facing economic charges in an effort called Operation Fox Hunt.
The warning was recently sent to Chinese officials from the State Department, in which U.S. officials demanded that the Chinese cease its activities. However, the officials would not say if the demand included any threats of penalties.
The Times says that the warning is symptomatic of growing anger in Washington over the tactics that the Chinese agents are using to intimidate expatriates to return home, such as threatening family members still in China.
However, there are still a lot of question as to exactly how the agents manage to get these rather wealthy Chinese expatriates to willingly return home.
There is also growing tension between the two countries over suspicion that China was behind the data breach at the Office of Personnel and Management, the threat of civil liberties in the Asian country, and the recent news that
China devalued its currency.
While it is not unusual for the Chinese to have secret agents in the country, just like its not unusual for the United States to have agents in China, the work is typically for the purpose of intelligence gathering.
The campaign to hunt down fugitives around the world is both widely popular and successful in China, according to the Times. The Chinese public supports Xi's effort to crackdown on corruption, and the Ministry of Public Security has brought home more than 930 suspects as part of Operation Fox Hunt since 2014.
This demand comes before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to make a state visit in Washington in September.
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