In March 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced proceedings against an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), a civilian intelligence agency, over their attempt to interfere in a New York congressional campaign. Beginning in September 2021, the MSS agent hired a private investigator to uncover or manufacture derogatory information about the candidate, saying “Whatever price is fine” and “Right now we don’t want him to be elected.” Eventually the agent proposed that the investigator physically attack the candidate or orchestrate a car accident to prevent his candidacy. While the Justice Department refused to name the candidate, details provided in a press release match those of Yan Xiong, a 2022 candidate for New York’s first congressional district. Xiong led a student protest in Tiananmen Square in 1989, became a naturalized U.S. citizen and served in the U.S. Army. This case was one of three announced in March of 2022 related to recent instances of Chinese state-sponsored harassment of dissidents in the United States.