US Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu and her dad were the targets of a spying operation that the Justice Department alleges was ordered by the Chinese government, the elder Liu - a former political refugee - said.
Her father told the Associated Press he was aware of the scheme last October after being contacted by the FBI. Arthur withheld the information from his 16-year-old daughter as he did not want to hamper her preparations for the Winter Olympics.
"We believed Alysa had a very good chance of making the [US] Olympic team and truly were very scared," he said. The teen went on to finish seventh in the women’s figure skating event at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
"This is her moment. This is her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games," Arthur continued. "I’m not going to let them stop her from going and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure she’s safe and I’m willing to make sacrifices so she can enjoy the moment.
"I’m not going to let them win to stop me … from expressing my opinions anywhere." He also allowed his daughter to compete having been given assurances from the US government and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) that she would be protected.
"They are probably just trying to intimidate us, to ... in a way threaten us not to say anything, to cause trouble to them and say anything political or related to human rights violations in China," Arthur added. His daughter had at least two people escorting her at all times. "I had concerns about her safety. The US government did a good job protecting her."
Arthur recalled an incident last November when he was contacted by someone claiming to be an official with the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), asking for his and his daughters’ passport numbers. "I didn’t feel good about it. I felt something fishy was going on," he said. "From my dealings with the US Figure Skating association, they would never call me on the phone to get copies of our passports.
"I really cut it short once I realised what he was asking for.” Arthur, immigrated to the U.S. from a small mountain village in Sichuan, China in the 1990s at the age of 25, after earning degrees in the country. Alysa visited China, the birthplace of her father for the first time while at the Winter Games.
Arthur said his daughter was warmly embraced by Chinese fans and media, who considered the two-time U.S. national champion to be one of their own. While at the Games however, Alysa informed her father she was approached by a stranger one evening, who then followed her and asked her to come to his apartment.
Speaking more on the operation, Liu added: "I’ve kind of accepted my life to be like this because of what I chose to do in 1989, to speak up against the government. And I know the Chinese government will extend their long hands into any corner in the world."
On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced charges against five men accused of acting on behalf of the Chinese government for a series of schemes to stalk and harass Chinese dissidents in the US. Arthur said he and his daughter were named in the criminal complaint as "Dissident 3" and "family member" respectively.
China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian insisted he was "not aware of the specifics" surrounding the allegations. However, he did say China "firmly opposed to the US slandering by making an issue of this out of thin air."
