Hayward Man Charged With Spying For China: FBI

HAYWARD, CA — A Hayward man was charged on Monday with acting as an illegal foreign agent for China, Justice Department officials said.

Authorities said Xuehua Peng, also known as Edward Peng, 56, delivered classified United States national security information to China's Ministry of State Security, acting at the direction of Chinese officials.

A complaint filed on Sept. 24 and unsealed Monday morning alleges that Peng, who is a U.S. citizen, retrieved classified information sent to him by a secret source, and brought the source money in return. He made an initial practice run in Newark in June 2015, authorities said, before completing at least five successful "dead drops" of the classified information through June 2018.

Peng is being charged with "executing dead drops, delivering payments, and personally carrying to Beijing, China, secure digital cards containing classified information related to the national security of the United States," said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson for the Northern District of California in a news release.

“The charges announced today provide a rare glimpse into the secret efforts of the People’s Republic of China to obtain classified national security information from the United States," Anderson said.

Peng, who authorities said works as a tour guide, was arrested on Friday, Sept. 27 at his home in Hayward and made his first appearance in federal court in San Francisco. His next hearing will take place Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 10:30 a.m.

Peng faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000, KTVU reported.