Published: June 06, 2026, 14:12 UTC
Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, stood in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia on Thursday and admitted what the US Department of Justice described as a seven-year conspiracy to gather intelligence for the People’s Republic of China.
Pauken had lived in China since 2010 and worked for multiple Chinese state media outlets, including CCTV and Xinhua News. But according to court filings, his journalism was cover for something else. From at least 2019 until February 2026, he worked at the direction of a Chinese handler identified only as “Cathy” – an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security.
“Cathy” gave Pauken taskings that included meeting potential intelligence assets, gathering information on American targets, and filing reports that were transmitted to Chinese intelligence. The DOJ said Pauken received at least $100,000 for his work.
Pauken and “Cathy” were introduced by a man employed as a speechwriter for Chinese President Xi Jinping, during the US-China trade war period in 2017. This detail matters because it shows that China’s intelligence apparatus operates through personal networks that reach into the highest levels of the party-state, and it uses those networks to recruit Americans with access.
The FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division described Pauken as someone who “gathered intelligence on his American targets and reported it back to his Chinese intelligence handlers.” Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky said the case demonstrated “the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to undermine our democratic institutions and degrade our political freedoms.”
Pauken worked with two other China-based individuals identified as “William” and “Richard,” who told him the reports he filed were being sent to Japan. He also helped a group of people from Wuhan obtain information about the US Department of Justice and related technology, and was asked to find an expert to assist with cyber espionage.
The case highlights a growing pattern: China’s intelligence services have been systematically recruiting journalists, academics, and businesspeople – Americans and non-Americans alike – to collect information on US government operations, technology, and policy. The Pauken case is one of several in recent years, and it is unlikely to be the last.
Pauken’s attorney told Politico that his client accepted responsibility and was trying to “promote peaceful relations and advance the cause of religious freedom in China.” Sentencing is scheduled for September 1. Pauken faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
The timing of the guilty plea is notable. It comes as the US and China are engaged in an escalating technology war, with Trump tightening chip restrictions and Beijing retaliating with export controls of its own. Espionage cases like Pauken’s give Washington leverage in those negotiations – evidence, the administration can argue, that China cannot be trusted with access to American technology or personnel.
The Pauken case also fits a wider pattern that US counterintelligence officials have been warning about for years. Chinese intelligence services have been systematically cultivating American journalists, academics, and business figures who work in China, using a combination of financial incentives, ideological affinity, and coercion. The DOJ has charged dozens of individuals in similar cases over the past five years, but the Pauken case stands out because of his direct access to Chinese state media platforms and the length of his cooperation.
- George, 1ban.news