Federal prosecutors allege a top Chinese official in New York was in frequent, often secretive contact with an indicted former aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul. But what that means for his job depends on whom you ask.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Hochul said she had urged the U.S. State Department to expel the Chinese consul general in New York from his role — and a high-ranking federal official responded by telling her the official was no longer in the job. The comments came a day after Linda Sun, Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, was indicted on charges accusing her of being an agent for the Chinese government.
A few hours later, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Chinese official, Huang Ping, had already left his post in August — and wasn’t removed or expelled as Hochul had insinuated.
But in an unsigned statement sent to Gothamist, the Chinese Consulate’s New York press office offered yet another version of events, claiming that Ping remains on the job.
“Consul General Huang Ping is performing his duties as normal,” reads the statement, sent from a Gmail address listed on the consulate’s official website. “We hope the media will refrain from sensationalizing false information.”
The confusion surrounding Ping’s employment marked the latest strange twist in an already bizarre tale, which exploded in the national headlines Tuesday after federal prosecutors accused Sun of secretly boosting the Chinese government’s priorities to officials within New York state government without registering as a foreign agent.
In exchange, prosecutors say, people with ties to the Chinese government helped Sun’s husband’s seafood-exporting business get a foothold in China, netting the couple millions of dollars they spent on expensive cars and luxury homes.
Sun’s cozy relationship with Ping is a common theme throughout the 65-page indictment, which charged Sun and her husband, Christopher Hu, with a variety of felonies.
Ping is not directly mentioned in the document, at least not by name. But he makes dozens of appearances under the name of “PRC [People’s Republic of China] Official-1.” A Gothamist review of identifying information in the document — including references to posts he made on Facebook and a photo with Sun on the Chinese consulate’s website — confirms that Ping is the unnamed official.
According to the indictment, Sun asked Ping for advice on messaging, convinced Hochul to record a Lunar New Year message for the official’s Facebook page and secured a gubernatorial proclamation in Ping’s honor – without following proper protocol.
Sun and her husband both pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday. Hu’s attorney called the charges “inflammatory” and “perplexing.” Ping was not charged.
On Wednesday, Hochul said she was “outraged” by Sun’s alleged conduct. And she said she urged the State Department to have Ping “expelled.”
“They conveyed to me that that person is no longer the consul general at the New York mission,” Hochul said, telling reporters she had just communicated with a high-ranking federal official. “I know that they’re no longer in their position. That’s all I know.”
At a briefing Wednesday afternoon, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed Hochul spoke to Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell earlier in the day. He made clear Ping was not forced out, but rather came to the end of his term.
“Our understanding is that the consul general reached the end of a regularly scheduled rotation in August and he rotated out of the position, but was not expelled,” Miller said.
When asked whether a new consul general had rotated in, Miller said he wasn’t sure, deferring comment to the Chinese government.
Shortly after Miller’s briefing ended, the Chinese consulate’s press office sent Gothamist the email claiming Ping remains on the job. Reached for comment, the State Department referred Gothamist back to Miller’s remarks.
The indictment against Sun claims she kept an open dialogue with Ping over a period of years.
Prosecutors say that in early 2021, Ping reached out to Sun to ask for a greeting for the consulate’s virtual celebration. According to the indictment, Ping asked for a video from then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Sun told him she could likely get Hochul, who at the time was serving as lieutenant governor, the indictment says.
Hochul did ultimately record a short, innocuous video wishing the Chinese people well during their celebration and sounding support for the diversity that “comes through the immigrants who have found their way here and built this country.”
Ping posted the video — which was set to traditional Chinese imagery and music — on his public Facebook page, saying it came from “my old friend Kathy Hochul.”
But behind the scenes, Sun was allegedly communicating with Ping about how to influence Hochul’s public statements about topics of importance to China, such as the “Uyghur situation.” The Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghur people has led to widespread accusations of human rights violations.
Sun told Ping she stopped a Hochul speechwriter from including a reference to the Uyghur people in the Lunar New Year video, according to emails cited in the indictment.
In other emails cited in the indictment, Sun boasted to Ping that she had “successfully blocked all formal and informal meetings” between Taiwanese officials and Cuomo or Hochul. China does not recognize Taiwan as an official country and refuses diplomatic relations with countries that do.
Federal prosecutors claim Sun, without authorization, obtained a framed gubernatorial proclamation for Ping in 2023 as part of another Lunar New Year celebration. But since she didn’t receive permission from her supervisor to do so, the proclamation was never logged in the governor’s tracking system, according to the indictment.
The indictment shows Sun and Ping’s relationship extended beyond proclamations and Facebook videos, too.
It says that on four different occasions, Sun’s parents received Nanjing-style salted ducks — which prosecutors say was further evidence of kickbacks from Chinese officials. According to the indictment, the ducks came from Ping’s personal chef.
Update: This story has been updated to include a response the State Department sent after publication.