An American journalist, Thomas Pauken II, has pleaded guilty in a US court to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government. He faces up to 10 years in jail and is set to be sentenced on September 1.
Pauken, who has lived in China since 2010 and worked for several state media organizations, was accused of working as an agent for the Chinese government without proper disclosure.
He was arrested in February after meeting with someone who had sought a job in the Trump administration to provide that person with a SIM card and offer $10,000 to write reports to be read by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Pauken appeared to see himself as a middleman between Chinese agents and 'human resources' who could provide classified information to Beijing.
He received $100,000 for the reports he provided to his Chinese contact, Cathy, between 2019 and 2025, in addition to paid trips to the US.
