China’s New York envoy ‘performing his duties as usual’ after Chinese agent case, Beijing’s consulate says

New York/Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s consulate in New York has denied reports that its top diplomat was removed in the aftermath of an alleged Chinese agent bust, saying the consul general is “performing his duties as usual.”

“Consul General Huang Ping is performing his duties as usual. We hope the media will refrain from sensationalizing false information,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Consulate General in New York told CNN in a statement Wednesday.

The statement appears to contradict remarks made earlier by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul – whose former aide was charged with acting as an agent for the Chinese government – and the State Department, which claimed the Chinese envoy had left his position.

Hours later, the consulate published a press release on its website with photos showing Huang busy at work on Tuesday. In the photos, Huang was seen visiting the Philadelphia home of a former American pilot who helped China to fight Japan during World War II.

At a fundraising event on Thursday evening, Huang, who has been the consul general since December 2018, indicated that he would be leaving his position soon, citing the length of his term and the retirement age for Chinese government officials.

“I’ve been here six years already. I surpassed my term, which used to be three to four years. I’ve surpassed my (retirement) age. In China, government officials retire at 60,” the 61-year-old told the audience at the China Institute Blue Cloud Gala.

“I think it’s time for me to go home and start a new life,” Huang said.

An official at the Chinese embassy in Washington confirmed to CNN that Huang’s term is coming to an end, but did not offer a specific date for his departure. The official said plans for Huang’s departure had been set in motion long ago and have nothing to do with the recent indictment against Linda Sun.

This latest Chinese explanation, however, while confirming Huang remains in his post for now, does at least partially echo the US State Department’s previous response his term was coming to an end — albeit with a slightly different timeframe.

The envoy’s employment status was first thrown into the spotlight after Sun, a former aide to Hochul and her predecessor Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was charged on Tuesday with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government.

Sun was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and conspiracy to launder money, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment.

Sun’s husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, prosecutors said.

Details contained within the indictment appear to match some publicly available information, including an interaction between Sun and Huang, the consul general.

For example, at the request of Chinese government representatives, Sun allegedly obtained an unauthorized proclamation from the New York Governor’s Office – a formal framed document that bears the state seal and the governor’s signature – to present to a Chinese official at an event celebrating the Lunar New Year in January 2023, prosecutors said in the indictment.

A photo posted on the website of China’s Foreign Ministry shows Sun presenting a framed New York State proclamation to Huang at the Lunar New Year reception of the Chinese consulate in New York on January 17, 2023.

US prosecutors say the Chinese government gave Sun lavish, expensive gifts in return for violating internal rules and state government protocols while she served as an aide to the two New York governors in a scheme that enriched her family to the tune of millions of dollars.

Among the gifts she received were at least four deliveries of Nanjing-style salted duck between 2021 and 2022, prepared by the personal chef of the Chinese official to whom she later presented the proclamation, according to the indictment. Other examples of gifts in the indictment included travel reimbursements, hotel rooms and event tickets.

Sun was born in Nanjing, a city in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, and moved to the US with her parents at a young age, according to the overseas Chinese affairs office of the Jiangsu provincial government.

A statement released by the office in 2017 said Sun had led two to three American delegations to visit China every year since 2012, when she started to work for Gov. Cuomo.

Sun has denied the allegations. Defense attorney Seth DuCharme addressed reporters outside court Tuesday, saying “we have a lot of confidence in our case.”

“A lot of the allegations in this indictment are frankly perplexing, overly inflammatory,” he said. “As you heard in court today, we are looking forward to our day in court. The defendants are exercising their right to a speedy trial as soon as they can; we have a lot of confidence in Chris and in Linda.”

An attorney for Sun, Jarrod Schaeffer, told CNN the charges “are inflammatory and appear to be the product of an overly aggressive prosecution.”

“We are also troubled by aspects of the government’s investigation. As we said today in court, our client is eager … to defend against these accusations in the proper forum – a court of law,” Schaeffer said.

‘Malicious speculations’

The case has threatened to spiral into a diplomatic row between Washington and Beijing, in part because of contradicting statements about the fate of China’s top diplomat in New York.

At a news conference earlier Wednesday, Hochul said she spoke by phone at the request of Secretary of State Antony Blinken to a high-ranking State Department official about Huang’s status.

“I had conveyed my desire to have the consul general from the People’s Republic of China in the New York mission expelled,” she said. “And I’ve been informed that the consul general is no longer in the New York mission.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller later clarified that Huang “was not expelled.”

“Our understanding is that the consul general reached the end of a regular scheduled rotation in August, and so rotated out of the position, but was not expelled,” Miller said.

“But of course, when it comes to the status of particular employees of a foreign mission, I would refer you to the foreign country to speak to it. But there was no expulsion action,” he added.

In a statement Wednesday, China’s embassy in Washington said reports saying Huang was expelled were “completely inconsistent with the facts” and “made malicious speculations.”

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the embassy, said Chinese diplomats in the US “have never and will not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.”

“Their normal performance of duties in the US should not be interfered with or disrupted in any way. We firmly oppose relevant parties and the media fabricating and spreading false information,” Liu added.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was unaware of the aide accused of working for China.

“I am not aware of the situation you mentioned,” spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing Monday, adding, “I will not comment on the domestic cases in the United States, but we oppose malicious associations and slander against China.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.