A 50-year-old American journalist who spent more than a decade reporting from China has entered a guilty plea in a U.S. federal court to charges of acting as an unregistered illegal agent for the Chinese government, U.S. national security officials confirmed this week.
Thomas Weir Pauken II, who has resided in China continuously since 2010 and held editorial roles at multiple Chinese state-run media outlets including China Central Television and Xinhua News Agency, admitted his involvement in a long-running conspiracy to gather sensitive information from U.S. government sources on behalf of Chinese interests, according to John A. Eisenberg, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.
Court filings detail that from at least 2019 through February 2025, Pauken operated under the direct direction and control of individuals he confirmed were affiliated with Chinese government bodies. The conspiracy was first set in motion in 2017, during the height of U.S.-China trade tensions under the Trump administration, when a speechwriter for Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced Pauken to an individual identified only as “Cathy” in court documents. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) states that Cathy assigned Pauken specific tasks, including arranging meetings with potential intelligence sources within the U.S.
In exchange for his work gathering intelligence, Pauken received at least $100,000 in compensation from Cathy, DOJ officials confirmed. Between 2019 and 2025, Pauken made multiple trips back to the United States to meet with individuals who could provide sensitive information to pass along to his Chinese handlers, according to court records.
Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, noted that Pauken systematically collected intelligence on U.S.-based targets and relayed all gathered information directly back to his Chinese intelligence contacts. In comments following the plea, Rozhavsky framed the case as evidence of what he described as the Chinese Communist Party’s persistent efforts to undermine U.S. democratic institutions and erode American political freedoms.
Court documents also reveal that Pauken collaborated with two additional China-based contacts, identified as “William” and “Richard”, who told the journalist that the reports he prepared for the pair would be sent to Japan. In another separate stream of activity, Pauken sold information related to the U.S. Department of Justice and emerging U.S. technologies to a group of individuals based in Wuhan. That same group also requested Pauken’s assistance in recruiting an expert to support cyber espionage operations, according to the filings.
Following Monday’s plea hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, Pauken’s defense attorney Charles Burnham shared a statement with Politico noting that his client accepts full responsibility for his actions. Burnham added that Pauken says he was motivated by a goal to advance peaceful U.S.-China relations and promote religious freedom protections within China.
Pauken is scheduled for sentencing on September 1. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.