As a long-time dissident and California-based opponent of the Chinese government, Arthur Liu – the father of US Olympic figure skater Alyssa Liu – was not particularly surprised when a phone call came from the FBI.
“They told me that the Chinese government had sent spies over to the Bay Area to gather me and my daughter’s passport information,” he told the BBC. “I wouldn’t say I was shocked. But I thought to myself, ‘wow’ – they’re taking this very seriously.”
At first, Mr Liu didn’t make the connection: A “fishy” phone call from a man claiming to be from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, claiming to be conducting a “preparedness check” ahead of his daughter’s trip to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022.
