US journalist pleads guilty to working as China's agent

A US journalist who had been living and working in China for over a decade has pleaded guilty in a US court to working as an illegal agent for the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, "admitted to being part of a conspiracy to obtain sensitive information from the US government" for China, US Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg said.

Court filings show that Pauken had been living in China since 2010 and had worked for several media organisations there, including China Central Television and Xinhua News.

According to court documents, Pauken worked "at the direction and control of people he knew worked for the PRC" from at least 2019 until February this year.

Among the people Pauken worked with is a person identified as "Cathy", whom the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said provided him with "taskings, including meeting with potential intelligence assets".

The DOJ said that the US journalist received at least $100,000 (£73,000) from "Cathy" for his work.

Pauken was also instructed to travel several times between 2019 and 2025 to meet with people in the US who could provide him with information to pass on to the PRC.

The American journalist "gathered intelligence on his American targets and reported it back to his Chinese intelligence handlers," said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.

Rozhavsky added that the case was an example of "the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to undermine our democratic institutions and degrade our political freedoms".

Pauken worked with two other people in China, identified as "William" and "Richard", who told the US journalist that reports he filed for them were being sent to Japan.

Pauken also sold a group of people from Wuhan information about the US DoJ and information about technology. They also asked Pauken to support them in finding an expert to help them engage in cyber espionage.

After the hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, Pauken's attorney, Charles Burnham, gave a statement to Politico which said his client accepted responsibility and was trying to "promote peaceful relations and advance the cause of religious freedom in China".

Pauken is scheduled to be sentenced on 1 September and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.