By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_Following the hearing held today in Washington DC, the US Government called for Dickson Yeo, a Singaporean who spied for China in the US, to be sentenced to 16 months in prison.
According to the court documents, on 7th November 2019, Yeo was approached by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the John F. Kennedy international airport in New York, and was requested for a voluntary interview. Even though he initially refused, later Yeo had agreed, after disembarking the plane he had already boarded. During the interview, Yeo had admitted that he worked for the Chinese intelligence services, and had agreed to continue to meet with the FBI.
Subsequently, he was arrested the following day. In July this year, Yeo pleaded guilty of operating illegally as a foreign agent in the US, by obtaining sensitive information from American citizens, on behalf of Chinese intelligence services.
Being raised in Singapore, Yeo pursued multiple degrees in Singapore and Japan. While pursuing his PhD at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, he went on a trip to Beijing to give a presentation on South-east Asia politics, during which he was recruited by individuals who said they represented China-based think-tanks and offered him money in exchange for political reports and information.
Under the direction of the Chinese intelligence services, Yeo opened up a fake consultancy firm in the US, and posted job listings online. He received more than 400 resumes, out of which 90 percent were from the US military or government employees. He subsequently gave these resumes to the Chinese handlers. He mainly recruited those who claimed to be facing financial difficulties and had paid them about US$2,000 to write reports for him.
The prosecution on behalf of the US government claims that the sentence of 16 months is less than the appropriate sentence of 30 months. However, Yeo’s lawyer Michelle Peterson stated that he has accepted responsibility for his conduct, and is showing genuine remorse for “having gotten caught up in the swirl of satisfying Chinese intelligence requirements and compromising his own integrity”. “He did not betray Singapore and he does not bear any malice towards the United States or any US citizens. He was deeply attracted to China and its ability to uplift millions from poverty with industrial policy, which led him to be easily influenced,” she said. According to Peterson, Yeo suffers from high blood pressure and anxiety, as well as depression and post traumatic stress disorder stemming from his national service in Singapore.
