Prosecutors have presented photos to show that Linda Sun mixed with some of 
CCP’s best friends in the US. Those photos of Sun are key pieces of evidence for a jury that began deliberating her case on Dec 12.
“She acted like the PRC government and the CCP were her bosses, her confidants and her teammates.”
The photos were introduced to illustrate Sun’s personal connections to Beijing’s conduits in the US, including officials of its consulate in New York City and others whom prosecutors described as China’s “middlemen.” Tall and glamorous, Sun stands out in these photos from marquee Chinese political events both in Beijing and New York.
The photos show Sun alongside men who run American associations known to maintain good relations with China’s government. In Manhattan, she joined their protest against a US visit by Taiwan’s president and in Beijing she celebrated 70 years of CCP rule.
These Chinese “hometown” associations are extensions of an international influence network coordinated by CCP’s United Front Work Department.
They promote China, and defend it against what the party calls “five poisons”: Taiwan, Tibet, Uyghurs, Falun Gong and the pro-democracy movement.
The photos show Sun was friendly with the leadership of some of the hometown leaders in New York who are closely aligned to China’s political agenda: Liang Guanjun (梁冠军), whom she called on to help her husband’s lobster-export business and later joined at a protest against Taiwan that Liang had organized; Frank Zhang (张富印), who arranged meetings between New York state politicians and officials from Henan province; and others who toasted the party in Beijing.
When Sun’s husband faced some trouble getting lobsters through China Customs at Guangzhou’s international airport, she reached out to Liang for help, according to text messages shown during the trial. Liang runs an umbrella of hometown groups called the United Chinese Associations of the Eastern United States (UCAEUS), which submitted its registration as a foreign agent for China under FARA on Sep 19, 2023. (The filing indicates that the group is "owned and controlled" by the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association, which is directly under CCP’s United Front Work Department. The filing was signed by Liang the chairman.)
“Chairman Liang,” Sun began a series of text messages in Feb 2019 explaining the lobster issue and requesting his help. “Received! I will talk to them,” Liang responded.
Months later Sun received an invitation from Liang to participate in the July 2019 protest near New York’s Grand Central Terminal against Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen.
Sun had already taken steps to ensure New York state officials didn’t meet with Tsai.
District Judge Brian M. Cogan cited procedural grounds to bar prosecutors from linking Sun’s lobster request with Liang’s protest invitation. With the jury out of the room, Cogan quipped “it’s like the line from ‘The Godfather,’ ‘someday I will ask of you a favor.’”
A striking series of photos from Beijing later in 2019 show Sun participating in festivities marking the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule of China. Sun was near the center of a family photo with several hometown leaders, including Liang, and she posed in the Great Hall of the People with Zhang, who is also an unindicted alleged co-conspirator in her case.
Sun later told a FBI agent she had traveled to Beijing for unrelated reasons.
FBI Special Agent Garrett Igo told the court he issued her warnings in mid-2020 out of concern she was the target in a Chinese influence operation.
One of Sun’s most frequent contacts while she served in New York state’s executive chamber was China’s local consul general, Huang Ping (黄屏).
A photo with Sun on stage with the consul general shows both of them gripping a proclamation in Hochul’s name. By then Sun no longer worked for the governor, and prosecutors said she had no authority to offer the honor.
wsj.com/world/china/me
CCP’s best friends in the US. Those photos of Sun are key pieces of evidence for a jury that began deliberating her case on Dec 12.
“She acted like the PRC government and the CCP were her bosses, her confidants and her teammates.”
The photos were introduced to illustrate Sun’s personal connections to Beijing’s conduits in the US, including officials of its consulate in New York City and others whom prosecutors described as China’s “middlemen.” Tall and glamorous, Sun stands out in these photos from marquee Chinese political events both in Beijing and New York.
The photos show Sun alongside men who run American associations known to maintain good relations with China’s government. In Manhattan, she joined their protest against a US visit by Taiwan’s president and in Beijing she celebrated 70 years of CCP rule.
These Chinese “hometown” associations are extensions of an international influence network coordinated by CCP’s United Front Work Department.
They promote China, and defend it against what the party calls “five poisons”: Taiwan, Tibet, Uyghurs, Falun Gong and the pro-democracy movement.
The photos show Sun was friendly with the leadership of some of the hometown leaders in New York who are closely aligned to China’s political agenda: Liang Guanjun (梁冠军), whom she called on to help her husband’s lobster-export business and later joined at a protest against Taiwan that Liang had organized; Frank Zhang (张富印), who arranged meetings between New York state politicians and officials from Henan province; and others who toasted the party in Beijing.
When Sun’s husband faced some trouble getting lobsters through China Customs at Guangzhou’s international airport, she reached out to Liang for help, according to text messages shown during the trial. Liang runs an umbrella of hometown groups called the United Chinese Associations of the Eastern United States (UCAEUS), which submitted its registration as a foreign agent for China under FARA on Sep 19, 2023. (The filing indicates that the group is "owned and controlled" by the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association, which is directly under CCP’s United Front Work Department. The filing was signed by Liang the chairman.)
“Chairman Liang,” Sun began a series of text messages in Feb 2019 explaining the lobster issue and requesting his help. “Received! I will talk to them,” Liang responded.
Months later Sun received an invitation from Liang to participate in the July 2019 protest near New York’s Grand Central Terminal against Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen.
Sun had already taken steps to ensure New York state officials didn’t meet with Tsai.
District Judge Brian M. Cogan cited procedural grounds to bar prosecutors from linking Sun’s lobster request with Liang’s protest invitation. With the jury out of the room, Cogan quipped “it’s like the line from ‘The Godfather,’ ‘someday I will ask of you a favor.’”
A striking series of photos from Beijing later in 2019 show Sun participating in festivities marking the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule of China. Sun was near the center of a family photo with several hometown leaders, including Liang, and she posed in the Great Hall of the People with Zhang, who is also an unindicted alleged co-conspirator in her case.
Sun later told a FBI agent she had traveled to Beijing for unrelated reasons.
FBI Special Agent Garrett Igo told the court he issued her warnings in mid-2020 out of concern she was the target in a Chinese influence operation.
One of Sun’s most frequent contacts while she served in New York state’s executive chamber was China’s local consul general, Huang Ping (黄屏).
A photo with Sun on stage with the consul general shows both of them gripping a proclamation in Hochul’s name. By then Sun no longer worked for the governor, and prosecutors said she had no authority to offer the honor.
wsj.com/world/china/me
Quote
Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
“She’s much more obedient than the governor”
— Linda Sun wrote to consular official Lihua Li in a Jan 25, 2021, message.
“The deputy governor listens to me more than the governor does 
”
— Sun said to Consul General in New York Huang Ping in another message on the same x.com/byron_wan/stat…
Show more consular official Lihua Li in a Jan 25, 2021, message.
“The deputy governor listens to me more than the governor does ”
— Sun said to Consul General in New York Huang Ping in another message on the same x.com/byron_wan/stat…