U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced that the owner of a sushi restaurant in New Jersey was arrested after being convicted as an “unregistered foreign agent” working for the Chinese government.
In a recent press release, ICE announced that officials had “apprehended a Chinese national who was convicted of illegally acting as an agent of a foreign government.”
The Post Millennial reported that 61-year-old Ming Xi Zhang, also known as “Sushi John” was arrested by ICE agents in Newark, New Jersey, on March 24. According to the outlet, Zhang, who owns Ya Ya Noodles in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, was previously sentenced to three years of probation after being convicted in April of 2024 for working as an unregistered foreign agent.
In the recent press release, ICE stated, “The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey convicted Zhang for illegally acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General and sentenced him on April 30, 2024, to probation for a term of three years.”
According to The Post Millennial, prior to his conviction last year, the 61-year-old restaurant owner pleaded guilty in May of 2021 to serving as an unregistered Chinese agent in 2016.
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ICE confirmed that Zhang entered the United States legally in June of 2000; however, ICE officials noted that the restaurant owner “violated the terms of his lawful admission” by working as a Chinese foreign agent.
In the press release, ICE Newark Field Office Director John Tsoukaris warned, “Any illegal alien conducting activities related to espionage, sabotage or export control against the United States is subject to deportation.”
According to NJ.com, the restaurant owner’s daughter, Emily Zhang, ICE officials arrested her father in March after law enforcement officials asked the 61-year-old to check in with them. “We’re all just kind of hoping, waiting for bond, parole, whatever it is,” Emily Zhang, told the outlet.
NJ.com reported that Ming Xi Zhang’s foreign agent charge resulted from multiple meetings the restaurant owner had with representatives from China’s Ministry of State Security in April of 2016. According to the outlet, the Chinese representatives instructed Zhang to secure $35,000 and give it to “another individual.”
After receiving the instructions, Zhang reportedly gave the money to the unidentified individual in the same area where his restaurant is located in New Jersey, according to NJ.com. The outlet noted that Zhang also previously admitted that he hosted a Chinese government agent at his home in Princeton twice in 2016.
© American Military News
