Thomas Weir Pauken II, a 50-year-old American journalist who had lived in China since 2010, pleaded guilty in a US federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, to acting as an illegal agent of the People's Republic of China. Pauken, who worked for Chinese state media outlets including CCTV and Xinhua News, admitted to gathering intelligence on American targets and passing it to Chinese handlers from at least 2019 until earlier this year, receiving at least $100,000 for his work. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison when sentenced on 1 September.