A Chinese dissident living in Queens, New York, has been charged with spying for China, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

Yuanjun Tang, who protested against the Chinese Communist Party during the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, is accused of acting and conspiring to act in the United States as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and making materially false statements to the FBI.

“As alleged, for years, Tang used his position as a leader among pro-democracy activists in the U.S. to collect information for the Chinese government and to report on people critical of the PRC and events conducted in support of democracy,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a press release. “Today’s charges reflect this Office’s commitment to combating the repressive and illegal use of foreign agents in the U.S. to sow fear and distrust within our communities and subvert our country’s most basic freedoms.”

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