Suspected of Working for the Chinese Consulate: President of New York Taishan Women’s Association Arrested

President of the New York Taishan Women’s Association, Wang Yibing. (Video screenshot)

[People News] On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Wang Yibing, president of the Taishan Women’s Association of New York—a very active figure in the city’s Chinese community—was arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She is suspected of “working for the Chinese consulate.” She is currently being held at an ICE detention centre in southern Louisiana and may face deportation to China.

According to The Dajiyuan, Wang was supposed to attend a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration event, but suddenly went missing. Photos show two law enforcement officers wearing vests labelled “Police” and “Federal Agent” handcuffing Wang behind her back. Wang appeared frightened and distraught, her brows furrowed, seemingly on the verge of tears and breakdown.

Several community members told reporters that before Wang’s arrest, she had confided that she was “in trouble and needed to go to court,” and had sought recommendation letters from community organisations to prove her contributions to the community.

In early 2023, she publicly told the media that she had been questioned by the FBI for two and a half hours. She said two men presented their identification, then asked about her connections with the Chinese Consulate in New York, whether she had private relationships with consular officials, and whether she was engaged in espionage activities. She denied all accusations, explaining that she merely helped elderly people use the Chinese consulate’s mobile app to obtain proof-of-life certificates.

She said the agents looked through her WeChat messages, photographed several chat records, and refused to leave any contact information.

According to a March 2024 report by the immigration news outlet Documented, FBI agents questioned her inside her grocery store in Brooklyn, asking: “Why are you working for the Chinese consulate? What benefits do they give you? Do you oppose Taiwan independence?”

The report stated that in 2019, Wang founded the Chimerica Women’s Association (Chinese name: Taishan Women’s Association of New York). The English name “Chimerica” combines “China” and “America,” symbolising close U.S.–China ties. The association, composed mainly of women from Wang’s hometown, Taishan, maintains a close relationship with the Chinese consulate.

The FBI was also reportedly concerned about her participation in demonstrations during the U.S. transit of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te, questioning whether the Chinese flags she distributed to demonstrators came from the Chinese consulate. Agents even said bluntly: “You work for the Chinese consulate; this is espionage.”

The Dajiyuan reported that over the past year, roughly a dozen Chinese community leaders have been questioned by the FBI.

Wang is known in the local community as “energetic, shrewd, and calculating.” After divorcing in 2017, she immigrated to the U.S. with her young child, who was then in elementary school. Just a year after arriving, in 2018, she organised a large-scale “Thousand Qipao Performance” in New York. She invited local groups to join an outdoor cultural gala titled “Waving to the World—Belt and Road Qipao Cultural Journey,” hosted by the U.S.–China Cultural Industry Centre, under the theme “Celebrating National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival.” The event reportedly received support from several Chinese community associations.

In January 2022, according to Southeast Net, a media outlet affiliated with the CCP’s local Party organ, Fujian Daily, representatives of the New York Taishan Women’s Association distributed “New Year Gift Packages” provided by the Chinese Consulate in New York.

Some voices in the Chinese community commented that Wang’s political and community activities were too high-profile given her unstable immigration status. “It’s not easy to settle down in America. She should’ve kept a low profile and just worked steadily,” one said. “Once something happens, China won’t protect her.”

Wang immigrated to the U.S. in 2017 through marriage, but the marriage soon fell apart, and her green card application failed. In 2024, she reportedly remarried a U.S. citizen and filed a new immigration petition. However, records from her earlier case may have contributed to her current arrest.

ICE has not yet released details of the charges, but many in the Chinese community believe she is unlikely to escape deportation.