Hochul calls for expulsion of Chinese diplomat following former aide’s indictment

Gov. Kathy Hochul provided an update Wednesday on the indictment of her former aide Linda Sun for allegedly acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the Chinese government, during which she suggested that the U.S. should respond to the incident by expelling a top Chinese diplomat. 

Following an unrelated press conference at her Manhattan office, Hochul told reporters she had just gotten off the phone with a “high-ranking” member of the U.S. State Department at the request of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The governor said that she expressed her desire to see the consul general from the People’s Republic of China expelled from the New York mission. Hochul said that the official informed her that he was already gone from the position. “I also requested the State Department to take appropriate action in response to the dangerous and outrageous actions taken by the People's Republic of China, and they are involved,” Hochul said.

Asked for clarity about the consul general, Hochul said, “they’re no longer in that position, that’s all I know.” She added that she asked for expulsion to send a message. “I believe that the Chinese government, with their behavior in doing this and working with Linda Sun, is not acceptable,” Hochul said. “And it is a statement by us that we're not tolerating this, and anybody who represented that government needs to move on.”

During a press briefing later in the afternoon, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that Hochul had spoken with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. He also said that China’s consul general was not expelled, but rather had “reached the end of a regularly scheduled rotation in August,” adding that “there was no expulsion action.” Miller directed additional questions about staffing changes to the Chinese Consulate.

The Chinese mission in New York offered a different assessment, telling Gothamist that the consul general in question – Huang Ping – is still “performing his duties as normal.”

Hochul told reporters that the FBI had not interviewed her regarding Sun, aside from asking her one question about an allegedly forged signature of hers. She said that she and her office have been cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice for months. “In short, I've said it – I am furious,” Hochul said. “I'm outraged by this behavior, and we're going to continue working alongside the administration to get the Department of Justice to get this done.”

Although Sun served as a deputy chief of staff in the executive chamber under Hochul, the governor described her as a “mid-level aide hired by my predecessor.” Over the course of a decade, Sun held a few executive chamber positions, first under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and later under Hochul, in addition to posts with the state Department of Financial Services, Empire State Development and most recently the state Department of Labor. “She did not have contact with me very often… but no, no real role in terms of my policies,” Hochul said.

According to the unsealed indictment, Sun attempted to change public language for both Cuomo and Hochul, facilitated meetings with Chinese government officials and tried to get Hochul to visit China. Hochul indicated that she interacted with Sun more while serving as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor, including as it related to Chinese government officials. “And there were suggestions that I go to China, which I declined,” Hochul said. She added that she is not aware of any statements that were altered while she was governor.

Hochul also rejected Republican characterizations that the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government have “infiltrated” state government. Some GOP state legislators, including state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, have called for an independent, bipartisan investigation to prevent similar situations from occurring. “We look at everything, but there's often calls to do things, and I have to make sure it's the right thing,” Hochul said. 

Following Sun’s indictment, some in the Asian American community in New York expressed concern over what it might mean for the community as a whole with regards to racist stereotypes or hate crime incidents due to the nature of the charge. The governor sought to assuage those concerns on Wednesday. “This better not have an impact on our AAPI community… They have been subjected to hate crimes at levels that are just abhorrent to me,” Hochul said. “So this is an isolated incident of one individual who has been apprehended, and I want to make sure that no one ever considers having any repercussions on the AAPI community.”