Yeo Jun Wei (; born 22 February 1981), also known as Dickson Yeo, is a Singaporean and an agent accused of assisting the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(China) to spy on the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On 24 July 2020, he pleaded guilty at the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

of assisting China in collecting information in the United States without prior notification made to the

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

. After released by USA on 30 December 2020 and upon return to Singapore, he was first arrested and then further detained by Singapore's

Internal Security Department Internal Security Department may refer to: * Internal Security Department (Brunei) * Internal Security Department (Singapore) The Internal Security Department (ISD) is a domestic counter-intelligence and security agency of Singapore under the ...

on 29 January 2021 for his spying activities, before he was released on 14 December 2021 conditionally after they ascertained he no longer posed a threat to the intelligence of Singapore.

Early life and education

Yeo was born and raised in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He studied at National Junior College between 1998 and 1999. Thereafter, he studied mass communications at the Oklahoma City University between 2004 and 2006. He went on to the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

(NUS) to study for a master's degree between 2009 and 2011. He later started studying for a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in Public Policy degree in 2015 at the NUS

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...

(LKYSPP). In 2019, he was granted a leave of absence from the programme.

As a People's Republic of China agent

Being recruited

While still receiving education at LKYSPP, Yeo made a presentation on Southeast Asia's political situation at

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 2015 and was approached by individuals who claimed to be China-based think tanks. They offered him money in exchange for political reports. Yeo later learnt that at least four of these individuals were Chinese intelligence officers. One of the intelligence officers later offered Yeo a contract to work with the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

. Yeo refused to sign the contract but he continued to assist and work for the intelligence service. Between 2015 and 2019, Yeo had made frequent trips to China, meeting different operatives for at least 40 times. In each trip, he would be processed in a separate office, away from the custom lines upon arrival to conceal his identity. Yeo would also maintained communications with the officers via

WeChat WeChat () is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has bee ...

, through by changing different WeChat accounts and phones each time they communicate. However, when Yeo was in United States, he was instructed not to communicate with the intelligence officers over concerns that their communications would be intercepted. If need be, he would email them from a local coffee shop. Yeo was also issued with a bank card to facilitate payments to his targets.

Information gathering efforts

Yeo was tasked by the intelligence officers to provide them with information about international political, economic and diplomatic relations, and these information were to be of "non-public" in origin, and were referred to as "

scuttlebutt Scuttlebutt in slang usage means rumor or gossip, deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, a water fountain). In one of his meetings with the intelligence officers in China, he was specified to obtain non public information about the U.S. Department of Commerce, artificial intelligence, and the “trade war” between China and the United States. Yeo's focus was initially Southeast Asian centric, but subsequently was switched to United States. By combing through

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

, Yeo found Americans, including U.S. military and government employees with high-level security clearances, with resumes and job descriptions suggesting that they would have access to valuable non-public information which the Chinese intelligence officers seek. After he identified individuals worth targeting, Yeo followed guidance he received from Chinese intelligence operatives regarding how to recruit potential targets, including identifying their vulnerabilities, such as dissatisfaction with work or financial difficulties. Yeo then solicited them for non-public information and paid them to write reports. Yeo told these American targets that the reports were for clients in Asia, without revealing that they were in fact destined for the Chinese government. In 2018, Yeo created a fake consulting company that used the same name as a prominent U.S. consulting firm that conducts public and government relations, and Yeo posted job advertisements under that company name. He would receive more than 400 resumes, with 90 percent of them coming from U.S. military and government personnel with security clearances, and he passed resumes of interest to one of the Chinese intelligence operatives. Between January 2019 to July 2019, Yeo stayed in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, he attended several events and speaking engagements at D.C. area think tanks. Yeo also contacted several individuals from lobbying firms and defence contracting companies.

Successful recruitment of individuals

Yeo managed to successfully recruit multiple United States citizens to provide him with information. In 2015, through LinkedIn, Yeo spotted and contacted a civilian who was working with

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

on the F-35B military aircraft programme. The civilian held high-level security clearance, and was having financial trouble. Yeo had him to write a report. The civilian also had provided additional information about the geopolitical implications of the Japanese purchasing F-35 aircraft from the US from which Yeo drafted a report and sent it to his contacts in intelligence service. In response to the job posting that Yeo had posted for his fake consulting company, a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer had sent in his resume. The officer was assigned to the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

, US Army's headquarters, at that time. Yeo contacted the officer via a social networking app, and had met him on multiple occasions. The officer confided in Yeo that he was traumatised by his military tours in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Yeo asked him to write reports for clients in Korea and other Asian countries, and withheld the fact that it would be read by a foreign government. The officer wrote a report on how the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan would impact China, which Yeo paid $2,000. The money was made to the officer's wife's account. Between 2018 and 2019, Yeo spotted another individual on LinkedIn who was employed at the US Department of State at the time. This individual felt dissatisfied at work and was having financial trouble, worrying about his upcoming retirement. Despite his misgivings about jeopardising his retirement pension if it was made known that he had provided Yeo a report, he wrote a report about a then-serving member of the

Cabinet of the United States The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to t ...

, and was paid $1,000 or $2,000.

Arrest

Sometime after the Army officer had provided his report, one of the Chinese intelligence officers instructed Yeo to recruit him to provide classified information. Yeo was also promised more money if the Army officer could become a permanent conduit of information. Yeo returned to United States in November 2019 with plans to ask the Army officer to provide classified information, and reveal who he was actually working for. However upon arrival at the airport, Yeo was stopped by law enforcement, questioned, and eventually arrested. No further contact with the Army officer could be made by Yeo.

Conviction and sentencing

Yeo's indictment was unsealed on 18 June 2020, with a guilty plea from Yeo entered on 24 July 2020 in

. In his plea, he admitted to the charge of "one count of acting within the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign power without first notifying the Attorney General", in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951. Yeo was sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment on 9 October 2020 (the sentence was two months short of the original sentence the prosecutors sought in their closing submissions on sentence). The sentence was backdated to November 2019, 11 months earlier since his confinement pending his conviction by the court in view of the prevalence of the

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(this was the same reason the judge cited for giving Yeo a lighter sentence for his crime), meaning that Yeo would have to serve three more months in prison and would be released in January 2021.

Release and detention in Singapore

Dickson Yeo was released and returned to Singapore on 30 December 2020. Upon his return, he was arrested in Singapore by the

for investigations to investigate if he had engaged in "activities prejudicial to Singapore’s security". Yeo was given a two-year long order of detention under the

Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: *Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) *McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, renamed ...

on 29 January 2021, after investigations showed that in addition to Yeo's spying activities against USA, he had tried further his information gathering activities on Singapore government as well by attempting to secure employment in a range of government jobs. Yeo had also carried out similar activities in Singapore, as he did in USA, approaching several people with relevant knowledge and expertise via social media in order to obtain information to write reports about Singapore for his handlers in China. The duration of the detention would be used to further investigate the full extent of Yeo's activities.

Release

On 14 December 2021, Dickson Yeo was released from detention under a suspension order, after the authorities ascertained that he no longer posed as a danger to Singapore's security and intelligence. The order of release also stated some unstated conditions that Yeo should comply with while he is out of prison, and he will be re-detained should he fail to comply with them.

International reactions

United States

In the press release of Yeo's guilty plea, Alan E. Kohler, Jr., the Assistant Director of the

FBI Counterintelligence Division The Counterintelligence Division (CD) is a division of the National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The division protects the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage. It accomplishes its miss ...

was quoted: "Mr. Yeo admits he set up a fake consulting company to further his scheme, looked for susceptible individuals who were vulnerable to recruitment, and tried to avoid detection by U.S. authorities. But this isn't just about this particular defendant. This case is yet another reminder that China is relentless in its pursuit of U.S. technology and policy information in order to advance its own interests. The FBI and our partners will be just as aggressive in uncovering these hidden efforts and charging individuals who break our laws."

People's Republic of China

Foreign Ministry spokesman

Wang Wenbin Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thailand ...

told the media on 27 July 2020 that he was unaware of Yeo's espionage cases. Wang criticised the United States and also berated the US to stop the "smear" campaign against China, saying: "I’m not aware of what you just mentioned, but I would like to point out that lately, US law enforcement has been busy hyping up the so-called China infiltration and espionage issues to the point of paranoia."

Singapore

Singapore government officials

Responding to media queries, Singapore's

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

(MHA) issued a statement on 26 July 2020 that it was informed by US authorities of Yeo's arrest in November 2019. Its investigations did not reveal any direct threat to Singapore's security. The MHA reminded Singaporeans of the expectations to abide by the laws of the country which they visit or reside in. Appropriate consular assistance was rendered to Yeo as required, a fact which the foreign affairs minister of Singapore, Vivian Balakrishnan, confirmed.

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

The institution announced the termination of Yeo's PhD candidature on 26 July 2020, and removed Yeo's profile from the institution official website, after the information of Yeo's criminal act were released by the United States Department of Justice.

Bilahari Kausikan

Retired Singapore diplomat

Bilahari Kausikan Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan is a Singaporean retired academic, diplomat and civil servant who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1995 and 1998. Early life and education Kausikan's father, ...

criticised Yeo on his

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page on 25 July 2020. Kausikan characterised Yeo for being foolish and said his actions could cause all Singaporeans to be suspected, and stated that it is not unreasonable to assume Yeo was recruited to work as a spy when he was a student at the LKYSPP. Kausikan added that he later learnt that

Huang Jing Huang Jing (; 1912 – 10 February 1958), born Yu Qiwei (), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who served as Mayor and Communist Party Chief of Tianjin municipality, Minister of the First Ministry of Machine Building, and Chair ...

, the political scientist and alleged spy, was Yeo's supervisor in LKYSPP. In an interview with Mothership, a Singaporean news website, Kausikan referred to Yeo as a "traitor", and said: "the probability is that Yeo was 'at least talent-spotted' by Huang or Huang 'played some sort of a role'", and that he did not believe that it was simply a pure coincidence.

Huang Jing

stated that he was "shocked" when he learnt the news of Yeo's incident from another former student, he also felt glad that Yeo was caught. Huang told the media that he seldom interacted with Yeo and only knew him as "Dickson Yeo". Huang also said that Yeo's academic performance was the worst among the six PhD students under Huang's supervision. In response to Kausikan's allegations, Huang denied he recruited Yeo to conduct the espionage and told the media that Kausikan's claims were “nonsense” and “unreasonable”, as well as demanding Kausikan to either prove the comments or retract them.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeo, Jun Wei 1981 births Living people National University of Singapore alumni Oklahoma City University alumni 21st-century Singaporean people People convicted of spying for the People's Republic of China