{"id":2379455,"date":"2024-12-12T15:46:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies\/"},"modified":"2024-12-12T15:47:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:47:56","slug":"biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Quietly Commuted Sentences Of Chinese Spies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2379455&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On December 12, 2024, \u2064President Joe Biden announced that his administration granted 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations, claiming it to be &#8220;the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-past-pardon-efforts-fall-short-of-expectations\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s past pardon efforts fall short of expectations\">largest single-day grant<\/a> of clemency in modern history.&#8221; however, attention has shifted to two <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">specific commutations granted weeks earlier<\/a> to\u200d Chinese spies, which raised concerns among americans.These \u200bincluded the commutation of sentences for Yanjun Xu, convicted of economic \u200despionage, and Ji Chaoqun, involved in conspiracy against the \u2063U.S. \u2062Both individuals had their sentences commuted quietly just before Thanksgiving, with no public declaration or prior notification of \u200btheir attorneys, indicating the potential \u200cfor a covert \u2062prisoner swap. Public outrage also stemmed from Biden&#8217;s clemency \u2062for Shanlin Jin, who had been convicted on \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sarah-bedford-says-presidential-records-act-has-not-been-aggressively-enforced-until-trump\/\" title=\"Sarah Bedford claims that the Presidential Records Act was not effectively enforced until the Trump administration.\">multiple counts related<\/a> to child pornography, as many believe\u2062 such\u2064 actions warrant more transparency \u200cand accountability.The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/msnbc-article-suggests-republicans-are-worse-than-nazis\/\" title=\"MSNBC Article Suggests Republicans Are Worse Than Nazis\">article suggests<\/a> a growing concern regarding the\u2064 implications and motivations behind\u200b these clemency actions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=735sA63RYlM\">  ABC 7 Chicago\/ YouTube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Biden%20Quietly%20Commuted%20Sentences%20Of%20Chinese%20Spies&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Biden%20Quietly%20Commuted%20Sentences%20Of%20Chinese%20Spies&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Biden%20Quietly%20Commuted%20Sentences%20Of%20Chinese%20Spies&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/biden-quietly-commuted-sentences-of-chinese-spies\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>President Joe Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2024\/12\/12\/clemency-recipient-list-7\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> on Thursday that he was granting 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations in what his administation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2024\/12\/12\/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-clemency-for-nearly-1500-americans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called<\/a> the &ldquo;largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.&rdquo; But it&rsquo;s not Thursday&rsquo;s set of commutations that have caught the attention of concerned Americans &mdash; it&rsquo;s those that were quietly given weeks ago to Chinese spies.<\/p>\n<p>X user Nick Sortor <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nicksortor\/status\/1867248926975304136\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posted<\/a> that &ldquo;Joe Biden just pardoned multiple Chinese spies and an individual convicted of possessing child p*rnography. WHY?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2101546713\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But the thing is, Biden didn&rsquo;t &ldquo;<em>just<\/em>&rdquo; commute the sentences for these criminals &mdash; he did it quietly only days before Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>While most Americans were finalizing their menus and getting into the holiday spirit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/pardon\/commutations-granted-president-joseph-biden-2021-present\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Biden<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/d9\/2024-11\/xu_signed_warrant.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commuted<\/a> the sentence of Yanjun Xu on November 22. Xu was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/pardon\/commutations-granted-president-joseph-biden-2021-present\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">convicted<\/a> in 2022 for &ldquo;conspiracy to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ge-engineer-aided-by-chinese-government-to-steal-trade-secrets-convicted-of-conspiracy-to-commit-economic-espionage\/\" title=\"GE Engineer Aided By Chinese Government To Steal Trade Secrets Convicted Of \u2018Conspiracy To Commit Economic Espionage\u2019\">commit economic espionage<\/a>; conspiracy to commit trade secret theft; attempted economic espionage by theft or fraud; attempted theft of trade secrets by taking or deception.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But according to Biden&rsquo;s pardon, &ldquo;it is in the national interest that the term of imprisonment related to the aforesaid conviction not be served in its entirety.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Xu was ordered to leave the United States and never return or commit any other crimes against the United States, according to the pardon.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/chinese-engineer-sentenced-8-years-us-prison-spying-rcna67576\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/d9\/2024-11\/choaqun_signed_warrant.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ji Chaoqun<\/a> was convicted of &ldquo;conspiracy to defraud the United States; impersonating agents of foreign governments; statements or entries generally.&rdquo; Ji arrived in the United States in 2013 on an F1 Visa before later enlisting in the U.S. Army Reserves &ldquo;under a program allowing legal immigrants with special skills to serve,&rdquo; according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/politics\/2024\/11\/27\/chinese-national-iit-student-federal-charges-convicted-freed-clemency-biden-us-citizens-released-china\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/chinese-national-sentenced-eight-years-acting-within-united-states-unregistered-agent-people\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According<\/a> to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, &ldquo;Ji worked at the direction of high-level intelligence officers in the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, a provincial department of the Ministry of State Security for the People&rsquo;s Republic of China.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But Biden commuted his sentence. &ldquo;On Nov. 22, Biden, with no fanfare or public announcement, granted clemency to Ji and Xu,&rdquo; the Chicago Sun-Times reported, noting that the move may have been part of a prisoner swap. Notably, Biden doesn&rsquo;t indicate in either document granting clemency why he chose to do so. <\/p>\n<p>Damon Cheronis, the attorney who represented Ji, told the Chicago Sun-Times he was not notified about the clemency beforehand.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I learned about it [Wednesday] morning, when he was released,&rdquo; Cheronis told the Chicago Sun-Times. &ldquo;It was not something that anyone was made aware of, including my client.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Even more disturbing, Biden also granted clemency to Shanlin Jin, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/courts\/2022\/02\/07\/allen-man-who-attended-smu-pleads-guilty-after-47000-child-porn-images-found-on-computer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">convicted<\/a> after &ldquo;police found more than 47,000 images and videos of child pornography in his computer.&rdquo; One such video allegedly showed &ldquo;an adult male sexually assaulting a female infant,&rdquo; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/courts\/2022\/02\/07\/allen-man-who-attended-smu-pleads-guilty-after-47000-child-porn-images-found-on-computer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Dallas Morning News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/3378545d-d1bc-4fe6-880c-69ff5c649a05\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">three commutations<\/a> were reportedly part of a prisoner swap in exchange for Mark Sweden, Kai Li, and John Leung, according to Financial Times.<\/p>\n<p>But prisoner swaps are typically hailed by the president and the media. When basketball player Brittney Griner was released from Russia (in exchange for the man known as &ldquo;Merchant of Death&rdquo;), Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/12\/08\/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-release-of-brittney-griner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">held a press conference<\/a> at the White House celebrating Griner&rsquo;s return.<\/p>\n<p>Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/08\/01\/politics\/biden-prisoner-swap\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">similarly held<\/a> another event when Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were released.<\/p>\n<p>So why was Biden and his administration so quiet about this Chinese swap?<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/biden-administration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Biden administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/brittney-griner\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">brittney griner<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/china\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">China<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/chinese-spies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Chinese spies<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/clemency\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">clemency<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/commutation\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">commutation<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/espionage\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">espionage<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/evan-gershkovich\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Evan Gershkovich<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/foreign-espionage\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">foreign espionage<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Joe Biden<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/pardon\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">pardon<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/paul-whelan\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Paul Whelan<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/russia\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Russia<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/spies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">spies<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/spying\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Spying<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Biden announced 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations, marking a significant clemency action. However, attention has shifted to earlier pardons for Chinese spies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2379456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-12-at-2.02.42-PM-e1734030250920-1024x577.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3620,46143,46677,33010,23344],"class_list":["post-2379455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-biden","tag-chinese-spies","tag-commuted-sentences","tag-criminal-justice","tag-national-security"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-12-at-2.02.42-PM-e1734030250920-1024x577.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2379455"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2379459,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379455\/revisions\/2379459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2379456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2379455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2379455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2379455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}