- US Olympian Alysa Liu's father said they were both targets of an alleged Chinese spying scheme.
- The Department of Justice announced charges this week against five men accused of harassing Chinese dissidents in the US.
- Arthur Liu, a political refugee, told AP that he was one of the dissidents mentioned in the criminal complaint.
US Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu's father says he and his daughter were targets in an alleged Chinese spy operation, the Associated Press reported.
The Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against five individuals who they accused of acting for the Chinese government to stalk and harass Chinese dissidents living in the United States.
"According to court documents, all the defendants allegedly perpetrated transnational repression schemes to target U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the [People's Republic of China] government, such as advocating for democracy in the PRC," a statement from the Justice Department said.
Alysa Liu's father, Arthur Liu, told the AP that he was one of the dissidents mentioned in a criminal complaint against the five individuals.
He said he was "Dissident 3" in the criminal complaint and that his daughter was referred to as "family member" in the court documents.
Arthur Liu, who came to the United States in 1989 as a political refugee after the Tiananmen Square massacre, told the AP that he got a call from the FBI in October 2021 warning him about the case.
He told the AP that he then received a call in November 2021 from a man claiming to be from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee who asked for his and Alysa's passport numbers.
He told the AP that he chose not to share their information and instead contacted his representative from Team USA.
In the criminal complaint released by the Justice Department on Wednesday, prosecutors allege that defendant Matthew Ziburis, a former Florida correctional officer and bodyguard, was behind the November call to Arthur Liu.
Prosecutors allege Ziburis was hired by co-defendant Quiang "Jason" Sun to surveil Arthur Liu and to gather information about him and his daughter that was not readily available on the internet, like their social security numbers.
According to court documents, Ziburis said in written communications obtained by prosecutors that performing the job would be "very easy" and asked to be paid $3,700 for his work.
Ziburis was arrested on Tuesday in the Eastern District of New York on charges of conspiring to commit interstate harassment and criminal use of a means of identification.
Arthur Liu told the AP that he decided not to tell his daughter about the phone calls last year because of her chances of making the US Olympic team at the time.
"We believed Alysa had a very good chance of making the Olympic Team and truly were very scared," Arthur Liu told AP.
He added, however, that he did not want to the calls to stop Alysa Liu from competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
"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," Arthur Liu told the AP. "I'm not going to let them win — to stop me — to silence me from expressing my opinions anywhere."
He told the AP that the US government agreed to protect Alysa Liu with escort guards while she was competing in Beijing in February.
Team USA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. USA Figure Skating declined to comment.