In New York City, after the dismissal of a Tibetan police officer, Chinese-American police officer Lieutenant Steven Li was also dismissed in February of this year. His termination was related to an incident involving the Chinese Communist Party’s “Operation Fox Hunt” in New York. Officer Li was found to have made false statements during an FBI investigation.
One of the targets of Operation Fox Hunt was a woman known as V3, who immigrated to the United States from China in 2001, having previously worked for a state-owned enterprise in China. In 2002, she was accused by the Chinese government of embezzling company funds to purchase multiple properties in China, which were later confiscated by the government, leading to a long-standing dispute.
According to police documents, to resolve this dispute, the Chinese government dispatched Sun Hoi Ying (also known as Sun Haiying) to the United States at the end of 2019, attempting to bring V3 back to China without the consent of the U.S. State Department and Department of Justice.
Upon arriving in the U.S., Sun Hoi Ying contacted Officer Li through an intermediary, hoping for his assistance in locating V3. At Sun’s request, Officer Li contacted V3, identifying himself as a New York police officer, claiming to know about her troubles in China, and requesting a meeting to discuss the issue.
In a restaurant in Queens, New York, Officer Li met with V3, showing his police credentials to prove his identity but claiming that he did not represent either the U.S. or Chinese government. He portrayed the meeting as a mere invitation to discuss whether she wanted to meet someone who could help resolve her issues in China.
V3 agreed to meet with Sun, who joined the conversation. Sun claimed to be commissioned by the Chinese government and wanted to ascertain whether V3 was willing to reconcile and under what conditions. He then pressured V3 to resolve her issues in China, threatening retaliation from the Chinese government if she did not comply.
Following the meeting, V3 contacted the FBI and assisted in the investigation. The FBI discovered that after Sun Hoi Ying returned to China, Officer Li continued to relay messages between him and V3 until October 2020.
In March 2022, Sun Hoi Ying was charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government in the U.S. and is currently a fugitive. The federal indictment did not mention Officer Li’s name or charge him, and a community leader suspected of being an accomplice was not specifically named. However, similar to the case of the former Tibetan police officer Angwang, Officer Li was also subject to an internal investigation within the police department.
On February 2, Officer Li underwent an internal hearing with the New York City Police Department. He denied being an agent of the Chinese government and claimed to be a mediator assisting both parties in resolving issues.
In the investigation report released on February 16, it was noted that Officer Li did not pressure V3 during their initial meeting but allowed Sun and V3 to discuss matters themselves. Subsequently, Li engaged in extensive communication with Sun via WeChat, occasionally mentioning his contact with V3 but refraining from deepening discussions on the case. They also discussed the possibility of collaborating on a “private detective” venture in the future. Sun even sent attachments containing photos of certain individuals’ passports to Li for inquiry, but there was no evidence that Li opened the attachments or conducted investigations on those individuals. Furthermore, there was no evidence that Li accepted any monetary compensation from Sun or V3.
Ultimately, the internal investigation within the police department found insufficient evidence to prove that Li was an agent of the Chinese government or had any intentions to be one. However, Officer Li deliberately downplayed his relationship with Sun during questioning by the FBI. Only after multiple instances of providing false information, as pointed out by the FBI, did he make corrections.
The department determined that his false answers involved crucial facts essential to the FBI’s investigation into Operation Fox Hunt. Additionally, Li failed to comply with internal guidelines by not reporting his summons by the FBI to the New York City Police Department. Consequently, the decision was made to dismiss him.
Officer Li served in the department for 20 years, receiving commendations, but his career in law enforcement ended due to “false statements” and “failure to report.”
On January 29, former Tibetan NYPD officer Angwang was dismissed for insubordination and refusing to be questioned by internal affairs investigators regarding his involvement in an agent case. Officer Li became the second person to be dismissed. In recent years, the United States has been increasingly enforcing the Foreign Agents Registration Act, requiring individuals lobbying for foreign governments and influencing individuals to disclose their activities to the Department of Justice.
According to Documented, at the NYPD, at least one other officer is under investigation because, during duty at last year’s Chinese New Year parade, he expressed excitement upon hearing the national anthem of China, criticizing Chinese individuals causing trouble and stating “watch how I deal with you.” He also posted videos on Douyin and WeChat supporting the China-Russia alliance, sparking controversy on social media.