Indictment accuses Pasco man of acting as Chinese government agent

A federal indictment unsealed this week accuses a Pasco County man of operating for years as an agent of the Chinese government, alleging that he provided information on political dissidents and American people and organizations to a Chinese intelligence service.

Federal agents on Saturday arrested Ping Li on charges of criminal conspiracy and operating as an unregistered foreign agent. The indictment, which became publicly visible Wednesday, describes numerous contacts Li is alleged to have had with a Chinese intelligence officer based in the city of Wuhan.

Li is an American citizen who emigrated from China, according to the indictment. Since at least 2012, he worked at the direction of Chinese intelligence to obtain information on Chinese dissidents and pro-Democracy advocates, members of a Chinese religious movement, and U.S.-based organizations.

Li, 59, made a first court appearance Monday and was released.

His attorney, Daniel Fernandez, declined to discuss the case, but said Li had made a not guilty plea. He noted that the federal law under which he was charged encompasses a broad range of behavior.

“We’re waiting for information from the government to better assess the situation,” Fernandez said.

Li has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, his attorney said. He worked for Verizon for more than 20 years, Fernandez said, and most recently worked for InfoSys, an India-based information technology company.

He has been married three decades, has two children and owns a home in Pasco County, the attorney said.

“He’s been a model citizen here,” Fernandez said.

Because China places strict limits on the information that its people can access on the internet, the government relies on overseas contacts to conduct research about the U.S. and other countries. They also use contacts abroad to monitor and intimidate Chinese political dissidents, according to the indictment.

Li is accused of being a part of those efforts. His main overseas contact was an officer for the Chinese Ministry of State Security, who is identified in the indictment as “MSS Officer 1.” He created numerous email accounts with false subscriber information to communicate with the officer.