US journalist jailed for 2 years for working as a Chinese agent
An American journalist who lived in Beijing, worked for Chinese state media and pleaded guilty to helping Beijing collect US intelligence was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in federal prison. Thomas Weir Pauken II, 51, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and barred from overseas travel during that period, according to the US Justice Department. He also used the alias Tom…
Thomas Weir Pauken II, a 51-year-old American journalist who lived in Beijing, was sentenced to two years in federal prison on Tuesday for working as a Chinese agent. He also faced three years of supervised release and a ban from overseas travel. According to the US Justice Department, Pauken, who used the alias Tom McGregor, pleaded guilty to helping Beijing collect US intelligence.
He operated under the direction of Chinese Ministry of State Security agents from at least 2019 until February 2026, recruiting potential intelligence assets, issuing taskings, and sending reports to MSS contacts. He received at least $100,000 in exchange for his services. Pauken was arrested in February and has been in custody since then.
His father, Thomas Pauken, once chaired the Texas Republican Party and ran for governor. Pauken's lawyer claimed that his work aimed to promote peaceful US-China relations and advance religious freedom in China. The FBI arrested Pauken at a Washington hotel after he encouraged a Trump administration official to contact a woman in China believed to be an intelligence officer.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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