Trial opens for 3 charged with aiding Chinese campaign to pressure expats into returning home

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — An American sleuth and two Chinese men are facing jurors in the first trial to come out of U.S. claims that China’s government has tried to harass, intimidate and arm-twist dissidents and others abroad into returning home. The trial of Michael McMahon, Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong opened Wednesday in a federal court in Brooklyn. They are charged with being part of a scheme to hound a former Chinese city official, his wife and their adult daughter to get the man to go back to his homeland. The defendants all maintain they weren’t aware they were doing Beijing’s bidding in what’s known as “Operation Fox Hunt.” China has denied all accusations of making threats to force repatriations.