34 2GM Friday March 18 2022 | the times
Wo r l d
An agent for China’s secret police
planned to lure an American political
candidate into a sex scandal, according
to court papers that show what is be-
lieved to be the first case of Beijing try-
ing to meddle in a Congressional race.
Qiming Lin, identified as a former
policeman who worked for China’s
ministry of state security, also consid-
ered staging a car crash or an attack on
the candidate to stop him standing in a
primary, a complaint filed in a federal
court in Brooklyn said.
Prosecutors have accused Lin, 59, of
targeting the candidate, a US military
veteran and a former Tiananmen
Square protester, as part of what they
see as an effort to silence critics of
China. This allegedly included spying
on dissidents and scheming to destroy a
20ft sculpture of the head of President
Xi with the spike proteins of the Covid-
19 molecule sprouting like hair.
Prosecutors have also charged a Chi-
Kamala Harris is losing a senior adviser
as an exodus from the vice-president’s
team grows amid reports of turmoil and
friction with President Biden’s staff.
Sabrina Singh, the deputy press
secretary, is moving to the Pentagon
after a turbulent first year of the admin-
istration marred by gaffes, messaging
failures and reports of internal rifts.
Singh is the ninth team member to
leave since autumn. She follows Ashley
Etienne, the communications director,
Symone Sanders, the press secretary,
and Kate Graham, Harris’s chief
Chinese secret agent ‘tried to lure
US poll candidate into sex scandal’
nese tech executive who was said to be
working as a government intermediary.
A Chinese scholar who co-founded a
pro-democracy group, a Long Island
businessman and a former Florida pris-
on guard were also arrested in New
York. None have commented. Lin and
the tech executive remain in China.
Prosecutors did not name the target
but it appeared to be Xiong Yan, a Bei-
jing University Law School graduate
who came to New York in 1992, became
a pastor and served after 9/11 as a mili-
tary chaplain in Iraq, his website said.
Eddie Chan, author of Standoff At
Tiananmen, identifies Xiong as one of
nine leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen
Square protests. Prosecutors said the
candidate targeted was a “former stu-
dent leader of the Tiananmen Square
protests” who escaped to the US, served
in the military, and visited Hong Kong
in 2015 for pro-democracy protests.
“Right now we don’t want him to be
elected,” Lin told a New York private in-
vestigator, according to prosecutors
who described Lin as a retired memberof China’s secret police. They said the
FBI recorded phone calls in which Lin
allegedly asked the investigator to look
into his background and suggested, if
no scandal could be found “can we
manufacture something, like what hap-
pened to [the pianist]?” — an apparent
reference to a Beijing musician found
with a prostitute.“You go find a girl for him,” Lin alle-
gedly said. In December he allegedly
told the investigator that “violence
would be fine too. Beat him until he
cannot run for election. Car accident,
[he] will be completely wrecked.”
When the investigator suggested
hiring a woman to “have a relationship
with him” and record it, saying it wouldcost $40,000, Lin allegedly told him
money was “not a problem”. He later
allegedly told the investigator he was
not sure if the plan would go ahead
“because [of] the Communist Party. As
you know it’s not just one person who
can call the shots.”
Others allegedly targeted included a
dissident in California identified as Ar-
thur Liu, the activist father of an Olym-
pic figure skater. Prosecutors said
Matthew Ziburis, 49, a former correc-
tions officer, was hired to surveil Liu
and to try to interview him while posing
as a member of a sporting committee.
They said Ziburis was also asked to
target Weiming Chen, the artist behind
the sculpture of Xi’s head as a Covid
molecule. Chen’s piece, CCP Virus, ex-
hibited in a park in California, was de-
stroyed by fire last summer. The artist
told a local paper that he suspected a
Chinese agent. Prosecutors say Ziburis
and his alleged associate, Fan “Frank”
Liu, were in New York when the sculp-
ture was burnt. Both were charged with
acting as Chinese government agents.United States
Will Pavia New York
Biden’s gift
of the gab
mocks his
Irish roots
David Charter WashingtonPresident Biden risked causing offence
during a St Patrick’s Day speech filled
with quips by joking: “I may be Irish but
I’m not stupid.”
Biden, who identifies strongly with
his Irish roots, has made the same
remark at least once previously but this
time invoked a religious blessing before
making it, as if aware it might not be
well received by some. The president, a
teetotaller, previously joked about his
heritage in October, when he told the
Pope: “I’m the only Irishman you’ve
ever met who’s never had a drink.”
Micheal Martin, the Irish prime
minister, was listening to Biden’s
remarks remotely after testing positive
for coronavirus the previous evening.
He had to miss a day of events, including
the traditional presentation of a bowl of
shamrock at the White House.
The Rev Thomas O’Connor from
Massachusetts continued the light
humour at the Friends of Ireland lunch
at the US Capitol when he referred
to the “gift of the gab present in the
Irish and many politicians — present
company is no exception”.
Biden said: “Father, before I begin —
bless me, Father, for I’m about to sin. I
just want you to know, I may be Irish but
I’m not stupid. I married Dominic
Giacoppa’s daughter.”
Biden used the Italian version of his
father-in-law’s name, Donald Jacobs,
whose own father changed the family
name after emigrating from Sicily.
The president said his family main-
tained a strong Irish identity through
two great-great grandfathers on his
mother’s side who arrived in the mid
19th century. He also made clear his
firm opposition to any change to the
Good Friday agreement in Brexit talks
between Ireland and the UK.Fresh woe for vice-president as another adviser quits
speechwriter. The vice-president is
shaking up her office before crucial
midterm elections in November and
the 2024 presidential race. She faces an
uphill struggle, however.
Her work since becoming the first
woman and first person of colour to be
vice-president has failed to improve her
position in polls. Her approval rating
fell to 28 per cent in one poll in Novem-
ber, making her the least popular vice-
president in modern American history.
Allies fear that without radical
change, the turmoil could be fatal for
her ambition to replace Biden when he
stands down. It was reported that shewas frustrated to be marginalised by
Biden last year, being saddled with the
task of solving the intractable immigra-
tion crisis on the southern border.
Harris, 57, has faced relentless attacks
from the right-wing press. Critics have
suggested that reports of a dysfunc-
tional operation and a heavy turnover
of staff are typical of her abrasive man-
agement style.
The difficulties have led to rumours
that Biden, 79, could replace Harris
before the 2024 presidential race,
despite his claims to the contrary.
A poll this week suggested that more
than half of Americans do not believehim, as the pressures of spiralling infla-
tion, the pandemic and the standoff
with Russia pile up on America’s oldest
president.
Harris has assumed a more promi-
nent role at Biden’s side over recent
weeks. She has also assumed a key
diplomatic role, with testing trips to
Germany and Poland as America
rallies international support for the
effort to arm Ukraine and impose
crushing sanctions on Russia.
Singh will be replaced by Ernesto
Apreza, Harris’s public engagement
adviser, who worked on the Biden-
Harris election campaign in 2020.Hugh Tomlinson Washington
Xiong Yan, a
Tiananmen Square
protester, was
allegedly targetedB
arack Obama
is lending his
voice to a
Netflix nature
documentary
series about national
parks, the latest project
from his lucrative deal
with the streaming
company (Keiran
Southern writes). Theformer president will
narrate Our Great
National Parks, which
will include footage
from Kenya, the US,
Chile, Indonesia and
elsewhere.
In a trailer, Obama,
who protected vast areas
of public land during his
time in the WhiteHouse, said: “When
humanity started to
protect these wild
places, we did not realise
how important they
would become. They’re
a haven for endangered
species, and a hotbed for
scientific research.”
Alongside his wife
Michelle, Obama has
embarked on a
post-presidential career
in the media. Their
Higher Ground
production company
signed a multimillion-
dollar deal with Netflix
in 2018. American
Factory, released by the
Obamas in 2019, won
the best documentary
Oscar.
The couple also have
an agreement with
Spotify to produce a
series of podcasts.
In 2017 they signed a
joint deal for their
memoirs with Penguin
Random House, said to
be worth $65 million.
The Netflix series
begins on April 13.Narrate a TV nature
series? Yes he can
PETE SOUZA/NETFLIXBarack Obama’s new
Netflix series will focus on
national parks, including
Yellowstone in the US