Cold facts have linked 17 people on the leaked Unity Front list to Sweden. One of the people in the secret Chinese network is the journalist who lived in Sweden for a long time, but who was deported last spring.
The security police describe the woman as a serious threat to the security of the kingdom. She herself has denied the allegations. Cold facts have searched for her, but have yet to receive a response.
Extensive activity
Parallel to her work as a journalist, the woman has been a central figure in the Chinese diaspora. She has been involved in demonstrations in Stockholm in support of the Communist Party and ran a number of different organizations. The woman has also received delegations and been paid by the embassy for articles. In pictures, she can be seen with profiles such as table tennis player Jan-Ove Waldner and top diplomat Hans Blix.
– States that conduct this extensive illegal intelligence activity in Sweden use all of society’s resources to access what they are interested in, says Karl Melin.
Socialize in the network
In a video posted online, she praises the situation in the Xinjiang region, despite the fact that the Chinese Communist regime subjects Uyghurs there to mass incarceration, torture and persecution.
The woman has socialized with several other people on the list who are also part of the network. One of the people is Tony Fang, who is a professor at Stockholm University. He denies the connections to the Unity Front.
Another name belongs to a former bourgeois municipal politician who had close contacts with the Chinese state. Another name is closely linked to the operation of the Chinese police station that received a lot of attention in the media in the fall of 2022.
– All information that can be linked to illegal intelligence activities or security-threatening activities that are conducted is interesting to us, says Karl Melin at the Security Police about the leaked list.
Over 2,000 names
The list contains phone numbers and email addresses, names and organizations of over 2,000 names around the world. But its origin is unknown. Cold Facts has partnered with an international consortium of journalists and experts from 7 different countries to verify person by person – organization by organization – one country at a time.
In total, the review has covered 233 names in Europe with connections to the Unity Front.
– In principle, I have not found any name on the list that is not connected to the Unity Front, says Markus Frentzel who is an investigative journalist at German RTL, and one of the people in the international collaboration.
– The list is what it purports to be because it is possible to confirm connections to the Unity Front for almost every person standing there, says Peter Mattis who is CEO of the Jamestown Foundation think tank. He is a former CIA analyst.