TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Five individuals, including two Chinese citizens, were charged with various offenses in New York on Wednesday (March 16) for their attempts to silence Americans whose political views run contrary to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The charges include stalking, harassing, and spying on U.S. residents on behalf of the Chinese secret police, the statement read. Fan "Frank" Liu, Matthew Ziburis, and Shujun Wang have already been arrested, while two other suspects — Chinese citizens Qiming Lin and Qiang "Jason" Sun — are still at large.

"As alleged, all of the defendants charged today engaged in a series of actions designed to silence the free speech of Chinese dissidents in the U.S. at the direction of the PRC secret police," stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll.

Some of the suspects are said to have been involved in hindering multiple federal elections, including by "orchestrating a campaign to undermine the U.S. congressional candidacy of a U.S. military veteran who was a leader of the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing."

In another case, three of the suspects planned to destroy the artwork of a Chinese national residing in California who is critical of the Chinese government. They also planted surveillance equipment in the artist’s workplace and car to spy on him.

Shujun Wang, 73, is a Chinese American former visiting scholar and author who helped start a pro-democracy organization in Queens that memorializes two CCP figures who promoted political and economic reforms. Wang was found to have been operating under the direction of several officers from China's Ministry of State Security since 2015.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said the event reveals "the outrageous and dangerous lengths to which the PRC government’s secret police and these defendants have gone to attack the rule of law and freedom of speech in New York City and elsewhere in the U.S." Assistant Attorney General Olsen commented that the activity is "antithetical to fundamental American values."