In exchange for a luxurious house valued at $4 million in New York, a vacation home worth $2 million in Honolulu, a 2024 Ferrari Roma, and even… delivery of salted duck, Linda Sun, a New York State advisor, is accused of providing services to China for the past 14 years.
Sun, who served in this position during both the Cuomo and Hochul administrations, is charged with, among other things, helping the Chinese government gain access to official calls related to COVID-19, using her position to help Chinese officials by preventing Taiwanese diplomats from contacting the New York State government, and secretly sending documents to Beijing.
According to the BBC, in exchange, Beijing helped the 41-year-old Sun and her husband, Christopher Hu, purchase a $4.1 million house in New York, an ocean-view apartment worth $2.1 million in Honolulu, Hawaii, and luxury vehicles, including a 2024 Ferrari Roma.
The gifts also included fully-paid trips to China, tickets for shows, concerts, and sports events, work in China for Sun’s cousin, and home deliveries of salted Nanjing-style ducks prepared by the personal chef of a Chinese government official. According to the indictment, these meals were given as gifts at least 16 times to Sun and her family.
The Indictment
According to the indictment, Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese descent, “actively concealed that she took actions at the direction, request, or guidance” of Chinese government officials and representatives.
The indictment describes that in 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Sun found ways for Chinese consular officials to gain access to key officials in New York State. In one instance, she even managed to secretly add a Chinese official to a private call with the state government regarding the public health response to the virus.
In a 2016 message to a Chinese consular official, Sun stated “Everything is arranged” after she removed a top New York politician from an event organized by Taiwan.
The 41-year-old advisor is also accused of working behind the scenes until January 2021 to “erase” reports of the detention of Uyghurs by Beijing. In this context, she is alleged to have told a Chinese official that she had disagreed with Hochul’s speechwriter to remove references to the “situation of the Uyghurs” from a draft of the New York Governor’s statements.
Former New York prosecutor Howard Master told the BBC that the charges reflect a “disturbing” trend among senior public officials—including former Senator Bob Menendez—accepting gifts from foreign governments.
On Tuesday morning, federal agents entered the couple’s home in Long Island and arrested them on 10 charges. A judge released the couple on bail, with the condition of restricting their travel to only three U.S. states and avoiding any contact with representatives of the Chinese consulate or Chinese diplomatic missions in New York.
