China harbouring fugitive: FBI

WASHINGTON: The FBI believes the Chinese consulate in San Francisco is harbouring a Chinese researcher who has been charged in a federal court in California with lying about her military background. Tang Juan lied about her military affiliation in a visa application last October to work at the University of California, Davis said during an FBI interview, according to justice department criminal charges.

Agents found photographs of Tang in a uniform of the People’s Liberation Army civilian cadre and news articles from China that identified her military affiliation.

The FBI last month interviewed Tang, when she denied having served in the military or knowing the significance of the insignia of her uniform, and found evidence of her military affiliation when they later searched her home, according to a criminal complaint filed last month that charges her with visa fraud. “The FBI assesses that, at some point following the search and interview of Tang on June 20, 2020, Tang went to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, where the FBI assesses she has remained,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.