Huang Ping, the consul general of the Chinese diplomatic mission in New York, has reportedly been booted from his position in connection with the FBI arrest of Linda Sun, former deputy chief-of-staff to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Hochul revealed during an unrelated press conference on Wednesday that she made a request to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to have Ping expelled.
“And I have been informed that the consul general is no longer in the New York mission,” said Hochul.
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Ping assumed the position in November 2018, and it was previously held by Sun Guoxiang from 2011 onwards. Sun’s alleged spying began in January 2015 when she worked as a Global New York Trade Manager under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to her indictment.
Linda Sun, a former aide to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, exits Brooklyn Federal court accompanied by Chris Hu.
Kent J. Edwards/ReutersSun’s husband, Chris Hu, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.
Hochul described Sun as a “mid-level employee,” adding that her access to information was “fairly limited.” Hochul explained, “We’re talking about correspondence and invitations and information like that.”
Sun, according to the indictment, allegedly edited correspondences given by Hochul to remove sentences or words not approved by Chinese officials.
“I’m still in charge of all Asian affairs. A few weeks [ago] when we released a press release for international travel—I almost had a heart attack when we referred to Taiwan as a country. Thankfully I had the press team correct it immediately,” Sun wrote in a text message to a Chinese official in October 2020.
Linda Sun, a former aide to New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul, exits Brooklyn Federal court accompanied by Chris Hu and lawyers.
Kent J. Edwards/ReutersSun also asked a Chinese official to “share with me some talking points of things you want her to mention,” in regard to a Lunar New Years video being put out by Hochul’s office.
Hochul’s speechwriter had attempted to insert lines about the “Uyghur situation” into the video but none made it in, as “she could not let Hochul mention the situation.” Sun sent the video to a Chinese official after its recording, to which the official wrote back, “It is very good.”
Hochul said that she “requested the State Department to take appropriate action in response to the dangerous and outrageous actions taken by the People’s Republic of China, and they are involved.”
State department spokesperson Matthew Miller said there was “no expulsion action” taken against Ping in a statement released Wednesday, reported The Guardian.
“This individual was not expelled,” said Miller. “That said, foreign interference, including attempts to influence through covert activity, are things that we take very seriously.”
Sun and Hu appeared in court on Tuesday, both pleading not guilty to their charges.
The Chinese consulate did not return the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
