US citizen and journalist charged with acting as Chinese agent

A US citizen who lived and worked for state media in China for several years pleaded guilty on Thursday to acting as a foreign agent for Beijing after allegedly collecting US$100,000 in return for collecting intelligence in the US on “American targets” and American politicians. According to court documents, Thomas Weir Pauken II worked at the “direction and control” of Chinese officials linked to China’s Ministry of State Security from at least 2019 until February 2026, with someone using the...