前纽约警察局警官迈克尔·麦克马洪被指控充当中国政府的代理人。 Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times
On a fall day in 2018, two men drove from Brooklyn to a home in a New Jersey suburb. They pounded on the front door. They went to the back deck and peered inside the glass doors. Finally, they taped a note for a former Chinese government official hiding inside with his wife.
2018年的一个秋日，两名男子从布鲁克林开车前往新泽西郊区的一处住宅。他们拍打前门。他们走到后院，透过玻璃门往里看。最后，他们贴了一张纸，留给躲在里面的一位前中国政府官员和他的妻子。
“If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be safe and sound,” it read.
纸上写着：“如果你愿意回大陆坐十年牢，你的老婆孩子没事。”
Whether the men were China’s agents or its unwitting pawns is the central question in a landmark case that began in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday. It is the first trial related to what China calls Operation Fox Hunt, a global effort that the authoritarian government says is aimed at fugitives, but which U.S. prosecutors say is intended to stamp out dissent using extortion and intimidation.
这些人是中国的代理人还是不知情的棋子，成为周三在布鲁克林联邦法院开庭的一桩里程碑案件的核心问题。这是与中国所称的“猎狐行动”相关的第一个审判，该国的威权政府称这是一项针对逃犯的全球行动，但美国检察官称其目的是通过勒索和恐吓来清除异见者。
Three defendants are Michael McMahon of New Jersey, a retired New York Police Department sergeant turned private investigator; Yong Zhu, also known as Jason Zhu, of Queens; and Congying Zheng of Brooklyn. The government says Mr. Zheng was one of the men who delivered the letter, using an address provided by Mr. Zhu and Mr. McMahon.
三名被告分别是新泽西州的迈克尔·麦克马洪，一名退休的纽约警察局警官，后来成为私家侦探；来自皇后区的朱勇（音），又名杰森·朱；以及布鲁克林的郑聪颖（音）。政府称，郑聪颖是送信人之一，由朱勇和麦克马洪提供地址。
All are charged with acting as unlawful agents of China, interstate stalking and conspiracy. They face up to 10 years in prison.
所有人都被指控充当中国的非法代理人、跨州跟踪和共谋。他们将面临最高10年的监禁。
Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, said that the proceedings, which are expected to last two to three weeks, would illuminate China’s efforts to control speech outside its borders.
亚洲协会美中关系中心主任奥维尔·谢尔表示，诉讼程序预计将持续两到三周，人们通过诉讼将看到中国控制境外言论的手段。
“These trials are more than just trials about a few people,” he said. “We get to look within the interior of how this system of control from Beijing works.”
“这不仅仅是针对少数人的审判，”他说。“我们可以趁机深入了解北京的这种控制系统是如何运作的。”
When the case was announced, Christopher Wray, the director of the F.B.I., called it an example of “China’s ongoing and widespread lawless behavior — and our refusal to tolerate it.”
案件公布后，联邦调查局局长克里斯托弗·雷称其为“中国持续和广泛的违法行为”以及“我们拒绝容忍的态度”的一个例证。
Prosecutors say the three men on trial targeted Xu Jin, the former official in New Jersey. Mr. Xu had fallen out of the Communist Party’s favor around 2008, and moved to the United States about two years later, Irisa Chen, an assistant U.S. attorney, said in her opening statement. He had resisted many attempts to get him to return, so in 2016, the Chinese government sought to locate him using illegal tactics, she said.
检察官表示，受审的三人针对的是在新泽西州的前官员徐进。助理联邦检察官艾丽莎·陈在开庭陈述中表示，徐进于2008年左右在中共党内失势，大约两年后移居美国。她说，中国企图让他返回，他多次拒绝，因此在2016年，中国政府试图使用非法手段找到他。
To that end, Mr. Zhu hired Mr. McMahon to find out where he lived, the government charges.
起诉书称，朱勇为此聘请麦克马洪查明他的住所。
周三，朱勇（右）离开布鲁克林联邦地区法院，他被指控雇用麦克马洪。 Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times
Lawrence Lustberg, a lawyer for Mr. McMahon, in his opening statement called his client a decorated “hero cop” unaware that he had been working for China. Mr. McMahon contends that he was hired to find someone he was told had embezzled millions from a Chinese construction company. He kept detailed records and alerted the local police when he conducted surveillance in New Jersey, Mr. Lustberg said.
麦克马洪的律师劳伦斯·勒斯特伯格在开庭陈述中称，他的客户是一名受到嘉奖的“英雄警察”，并不知道自己一直在为中国工作。麦克马洪辩称，他受雇寻人，被告知此人曾从一家中国建筑公司挪用了数百万美元。勒斯特伯格说，麦克马洪在新泽西州进行监视时保留了详细的记录并通知了当地警方。
“If he’s secretly acting on behalf of the Chinese government, is he going to call the cops and tell them that?” Mr. Lustberg asked.
“如果他秘密代表中国政府行事，他会和警方联系并告诉他们吗？”勒斯特伯格问道。
Paul Goldberger, representing Mr. Zheng, said that his client had never met his co-defendants before the charges were filed. The man with whom he drove to New Jersey in 2018, Kuang Zebin, pleaded guilty last year and is expected to testify. Mr. Goldberger argued that Mr. Zheng had quickly realized his involvement was a mistake, and went back the following morning to take the note down.
郑聪颖的律师保罗·戈德伯格称，他的委托人在被起诉前从未见过他的同案被告。2018年与他一起开车去新泽西的男子匡泽斌（音）去年认罪，预计将出庭作证。戈德伯格争辩说，郑聪颖很快意识到他参与进来是个错误，并在第二天早上返回取下了那张纸。
“It’s less than 24 hours altogether that he was supposedly involved,” he said.
“他对此事的参与总共应该不到24小时，”他说。
Kevin Tung, representing Mr. Zhu, said his client had met someone at a job fair in Wuhan, China, who asked for help tracking down a debtor in the United States. Because Mr. Zhu does not speak English, he found a lawyer, who in turn hired Mr. McMahon, he said.
朱勇的律师凯文·董表示，他的委托人在中国武汉的一个招聘会上遇到的一个人请求他帮助追踪一名在美国的债务人。他说，因为朱勇不会说英语，他找到了一位律师，这位律师又聘请了麦克马洪。
“My client is also a victim,” Mr. Tung said. “He was used.”
“我的委托人也是受害者，”凯文·董说。“他被利用了。”
The indictment lays out a scheme in which the Chinese government flew Mr. Xu’s octogenarian father to the United States to persuade his son to return — or at least reveal his address.
起诉书中描述了行动计划，即中国政府让徐进80多岁的父亲飞到美国说服他的儿子回来——或者至少透露他的住址。
Mr. Xu’s sister-in-law, Liu Yan, testified Wednesday about a bizarre episode at her home in Short Hills, N.J., in April 2017. She was walking the dog one evening when her teenage daughter called to say that Mr. Xu’s father — who lived in Wuhan, and whom she had met only three or four times — was at their home.
徐进的妻妹刘燕（音）周三就2017年4月在她位于新泽西州肖特希尔斯的家中发生的一件不寻常的事情作证。一天晚上，她正在遛狗，十几岁的女儿打电话来说徐进的父亲在他们家。徐进的父亲住在武汉，刘燕只见过他三、四次。
Liu Yan said that the family knew that Mr. Xu was wanted for “things he did not do,” and suspected his father’s unexpected presence was part of a scheme to find him, she said. She arranged for Mr. Xu to meet them at a mall the following morning, instead of at his home.
刘燕说，家人知道徐进被通缉，但那些事“他并没有做”，他们怀疑他父亲的意外出现是一个寻找他的计划的一部分。她安排徐进第二天早上在一家商场与他们见面，而不是在他家。
Mr. McMahon monitored the meeting, and obtained Mr. Xu’s address after that, prosecutors said.
检察官说，麦克马洪监视了他们的会面，并在之后获得了徐进的地址。
“Thanks to Mr. McMahon, the Chinese government finally learned where the victim lived,” Ms. Chen said.
“由于麦克马洪，中国政府终于知道了受害人住在哪里，”艾丽莎·陈说。
Karen Zraick是一名突发新闻和全线记者。欢迎在Twitter上关注她：@karenzraick。
翻译：纽约时报中文网
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纳闻|真实新闻与历史–「中英」纽约退休警察卷入“猎狐行动”，被控充当中国代理人