5 Takeaways From Ex-Hochul Aide’s Chinese Agent Trial

Dec 19, 2025 - 10:59 Updated: Dec 19, 2025 - 10:51

5 Takeaways From Ex-Hochul Aide’s Chinese Agent Trial

NEW YORK—Former aide to New York governors Linda Sun has been on a month-long trial over allegations that she acted as a Chinese agent while employed by the state.

The prosecution presented evidence suggesting that Sun’s connections with Chinese authorities, including text messages, transaction records, and photos involving both Sun and Chinese officials and agents.

As the jury deliberates, here are five takeaways from the trial.

Friendship With Chinese Officials

Sun maintained close relationships with Chinese officials in the United States, according to court records.

In a recorded interview with New York state investigators replayed in court, Sun said she and the New York Chinese Consul General Huang Ping are “personal friends.”

In early 2023, Sun prepared a framed proclamation to Huang on behalf of the New York governor at the request of the Chinese officials, according to prosecutors. Sun, at the time, had transferred to the New York State Labor Department and didn’t have the proper authorization, according to the prosecution.

Sun presented the proclamation at a Chinese New Year event held at the Chinese consulate, according to a post from the consulate. When investigators asked her if she was doing this in her role with the Department of Labor, Sun replied: “No, but I am also personal friends with the consul, so my whole family was there,” according to a recording played at the court.

After she assisted the consulate in holding a welcome event at John F. Kennedy International Airport in July 2021, Huang invited Sun’s family over for dinner “when the epidemic gets better,” according to court exhibits.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” Huang wrote to Sun in a message.

The New York Labor Department terminated Sun’s employment in March 2023. But Sun continued communications with Chinese officials, according to court records.

In February 2024, Sun wrote to Huang, asking to talk over the phone and saying she had “something personal to ask” him. Days later, she thanked Huang for sending her Chinese delicacies, saying it would make her Chinese New Year dinner with family “very sumptuous,” according to the text messages.

WeChat messages between Linda Sun and New York Chinese Consul General Huang Ping, on Feb 1, 2024. U.S. Attorney’s Office

Influence Over New York Officials

Sun, on several occasions, boasted of her ability to influence her bosses, Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo.

In early 2021, Sun persuaded Hochul, then lieutenant governor, to film a Chinese Lunar New Year greeting for the Chinese Consulate.

“The deputy governor listens to me more than the governor does,” Sun wrote in a text message after sending the video to Huang.

Huang described the video as “very good,” saying: “Thank you very, very much!”

WeChat messages exchanged between Linda Sun and New York Chinese Consul General Huang Ping, on Jan. 25, 2021. U.S. Attorney’s Office

When, in 2019, the Chinese consul wanted to set up a meeting with Cuomo, Sun offered to arrange one with Hochul instead.

“We can do on any weekday between Monday to Thursday [with the lieutenant governor],” she wrote. “I can control her schedule.”

And in 2018, Sun revealed to Chinese consular officials details about political tussles in the governor’s office, telling them that Cuomo was considering replacing Hochul as his running mate in the election.

Her defense attorney Kenneth Abell argued her comments should be seen as self-promotion. He admitted they were at times inappropriate but argued that it showed she enjoyed her role as go-between for the consulate and New York state.

Involvement in a Chinese Influence Organization

While working for the state of New York, Sun accepted a position as chairman of the Youth Committee of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, part of the United Front Work Department that aims to recruit friendly overseas Chinese to work for the Chinese Communist Party’s interests. During the trial, Julian Ku, a Hofstra University School of Law professor, testified that such a title is “another avenue to reach leadership of the Party.”

Garrett Igo, an FBI special agent who investigated Sun’s connection with a Chinese intelligence operative working in the Chinese consulate, testified about the many businessmen and overseas Chinese community members Sun associated with in New York.

Igo said he had interviewed many of these community leaders and “that we had been told that a lot of overseas community members held various titles with the Chinese government, such as overseas council member and overseas youth committee member.”

Linda Sun (C) joins a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in Beijing on September 2019. U.S. Attorney’s Office

According to Igo, Sun replied that everyone holds a title and that they are useful for getting invited to Chinese government events.

At least two local Chinese association leaders had close contacts with Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, helping Hu connect with local government officials in China to find business opportunities. They set up meetings in several Chinese cities, including Qingdao, Weihai, and Yantai, and helped Hu modify his business plan to help get his business off the ground.

Sun traveled back to China often, attending events organized by the Chinese officials, including one for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, according to prosecutors.

Quid Pro Quo

During the trial, the prosecution and defense argued over the inclusion of a conversation between Sun and a Chinese businessman that allegedly showed quid pro quo.

“It’s like the line from ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Someday I will ask of you a favor,’” Judge Brian Cogan said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun’s husband had a business called Foodie Fisherman exporting live lobsters to China. When Hu’s lobsters got held up in customs in Guangzhou, China, in February 2019, Sun reached out to Liang Guanjun, president of the United Chinese Associations of the Eastern United States, which was registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent, according to prosecutors.

Then, in June 2019, Liang alerted Sun that there would be a protest against Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen when she visited New York in July 2019, according to court records. Sun later joined the protest, the records show.

Linda Sun (C) joins a protest against Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on July 12, 2019. Liang Guanjun (2-R), president of the United Chinese Associations of the Eastern United States, holds up the mic. U.S. Attorney’s Office

The prosecution said the exchange shows Liang calling in a favor in return for helping with Guangzhou customs.

‘The Most Incriminating Document’

When the pandemic hit, international trade slowed, and Hu’s lobster export business to China stopped, a new opportunity presented itself: selling masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and other in-demand items needed during the pandemic, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Sun had used her position in the New York State COVID-19 task force to help secure state contracts for businesses connected with Hu.

Hu kept a spreadsheet of all expected kickbacks, recording all he had received and to which New York state contract it related, prosecutors said in court. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Pollack called it “the most incriminating document in the world.”

In the spreadsheet, which prosecutors showed in court, a formula calculated the profit as the total payout from New York state for the surgical masks and gloves, which also accounts for costs and shipping fees, according to documents presented in court. The profit he calculated for himself and Sun comes out to nearly $8 million, according to prosecutors.