US journalist pleads guilty to working as China's agent

A US journalist who had been living and working in China for over a decade has pleaded guilty in a US court to working as an illegal agent for the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, "admitted to being part of a conspiracy to obtain sensitive information from the US government" for China, US Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg said.

Court filings show that Pauken had been living in China since 2010 and had worked for several media organisations there, including CCTV and Xinhua News.

Pauken worked "at the direction and control of people he knew worked for the PRC" from at least 2019 until February this year, according to court documents.

Among the people Pauken worked with was a person identified as "Cathy", whom the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said provided him with "taskings, including meeting with potential intelligence assets".

Pauken and "Cathy" were introduced by a man employed as a speechwriter for Chinese President Xi Jinping during the "Trump-China trade wars" in 2017, court filings show.

The DOJ said that the US journalist received at least $100,000 (£73,000) from "Cathy" for his work.

Pauken was also instructed to travel several times between 2019 and 2025 to meet people in the US who could provide him with information to pass on to the PRC.