US court charges Chinese executive for sabotaging online meetings on Tiananmen massacre

A US Federal court has charged Chinese executive Xinjiang Jin for his involvement in a conspiracy to disrupt meetings held to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre earlier this year. Known as Julien Jin, the Chinese national worked at an American telecom company and was tasked with passing critical information to the Chinese Communist Party and terminating video meetings hosted by the company’s video communication platform. If the charges prove true, then Jin could face a prison term of up to 10 years, as per a statement by the US Department of Justice.

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The complaint has revealed that Jin served as the US telecommunication company's primary liaison with the People's Republic of China (PRC) law enforcement and intelligence services and "regularly responded to requests from the PRC government for information and to terminate video meetings" hosted by the company's video communications platform.

In addendum, Jin also passed on critical information regarding the American firm’s users, meetings, etc. thus jeopardising the firm's credibility. Not only did Jin monitor the American company’s video communications, but also terminated meeting which discussed religious and political subjects opposed to the CCP.

"As alleged in the complaint, between January 2019 to the present, Jin and others conspired to use Company-1’s systems in the United States to censor the political and religious speech of individuals located in the United States and around the world at the direction and under the control of officials of the PRC government," the US department of Justice asserted in a statement.

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Terminated four related meetings 

Using his position, Jin had also terminated at least four meetings hosted on his company's networks commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, most of which were organised and attended by US-based participants, such as dissidents who had participated in and survived the protests. 

The Tiananmen massacre took place in 1989 when China’s leaders sent tanks and troops to quell student protesters calling for democracy and an end to corruption. According to reports, hundreds were killed and more than 1,000 perished. Three decades on, the crackdown still remains one of the most sensitive subjects in mainland China. 

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(With Agency Inputs)