Brighton Man Accused Of Providing Blacklist To Chinese Government

BRIGHTON, MA — A Brighton man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy charges after being accused of working with the Chinese government to make a blacklist of pro-democracy dissidents in Boston, the Boston Globe reported, citing an indictment.

The indictment, which was shared in full by the outlet, reveals that Litang Liang is facing charges of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and acting as an agent of a foreign government without notice to the United States Attorney General.

Prosecutors said that between 2018 through at least 2022, Liang gathered information for the Chinese government, sharing the names, photos, and other information of Chinese people and organizations in the Boston area who were participating in protests supporting pro-democracy dissidents. In addition, Liang organized a counter-protest in the United States against pro-democracy dissidents and provided names of potential recruits to the Chinese government's Ministry of Public Security, prosecutors said.

Liang communicated frequently over the phone with the Chinese government officials to perform these duties "for the benefit of the [Chinese] government and at the direction or control of [Chinese] government officials," prosecutors wrote in the indictment.

Liang's dention hearing, during which officials will determine whether he will be released prior to his trial, is set for Thursday.