The governor of California has announced that a Chinese Communist Party official with close ties to her office will no longer be in his position, following the arrest of a former aide with similar ties.

On Wednesday, New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul revealed that she spoke with the State Department and expressed her desire to have a Chinese diplomat who her office has met with frequently since 2019 expelled from his post in New York after he was mentioned in an indictment against her former top aide.

On Wednesday, Hochul announced during an unrelated press conference that she had spoken with a high-ranking State Department official at Blinken's request and revealed her support for expelling Consul General Huang Ping from the People's Republic of China and the New York mission, stating that she had been informed that the consul general was no longer in the New York mission.

Miller, a spokesperson for the State Department, contradicted Hochul's comments during a press briefing, stating that Ping's departure was not an expulsion and that it was part of a regularly scheduled rotation that ended in August. Miller clarified that no expulsive action was taken.

The Department of Justice announced that Linda Sun, Hochul's former deputy chief of staff, and her husband, Chris Hu, were arrested early Tuesday morning and charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy.

Hochul's office announced in March 2023 that they terminated her employment after discovering evidence of misconduct and immediately reported her actions to law enforcement. However, her close ties to Ping, who has praised the CCP and was referenced in the unsealed 64-page DOJ indictment, may bring additional scrutiny.

Ping, the consul general of China's New York Consulate since 2018, has been referred to as "PRC Official-1" in the indictment and has repeatedly met with Hochul, who is known as "Politician-2." Planet Chronicle Digital was the first media outlet to report on Hochul's ties to Ping in 2022, detailing their meeting in April 2019 to discuss cooperation between New York and China.

Hochul and Ping were photographed in a press release, standing beside each other and smiling while holding a certificate Hochul presented to him for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

In February 2021, he referred to her as an "old friend" in a Facebook post that included a video of her. Additionally, they have recently attended events together, such as New York City's Lunar New Year event in February 2022, where Ping assisted Hochul in igniting a firecracker.

In a November 2021 letter for an event promoting U.S.-China relations, Hochul stated that she looks forward to strengthening our culture, social, and economic ties in the future.

The unsealed indictment showed that Sun was using her government position to influence policy and promote the same talking points as Ping and the CCP, which highlights the relevance of Hochul's rhetoric.

Ping's rhetoric during a podcast was reported by Planet Chronicle Digital, which stated that he dismissed the Uyghur genocide as "lies," despite the State Department and Holocaust Museum repeatedly stating that China is committing genocide. Additionally, Ping denied the independence of Taiwan, stating that Taiwan and the mainland are from the "same family," and questioned the United States for "meddling in this internal affair of China."

The indictment alleges that a speechwriter for then-Lt. Gov. Hochul wanted to discuss the "Uyghur situation" in China in her 2021 Lunar New Year message, but the plight of the minority group being persecuted by the Chinese government was ultimately omitted after Sun overruled the speechwriter. The indictment states that Sun revealed to Ping what the speechwriter wanted to include, but insisted that she would not let her boss mention Uyghurs after admitting that she was "starting to lose her temper" with the speechwriter.

The speechwriter was accused of being a clueless American who had never visited China, and Ping believed that U.S.-China relations could deteriorate because of people like the speechwriter. However, Sun later agreed that the speechwriter had never been to China. Ping later posted Hochul's Lunar New Year message on his Facebook page, which did not mention Uyghurs.

The indictment alleged that Sun used her positions in the Cuomo and Hochul administrations to prevent Taiwanese officials from meeting with high-ranking New York government officials, including Hochul and Cuomo, and would then brag about her actions to Chinese officials, including Ping. In one instance, she texted a Chinese official in the fall of 2020 to say she nearly had a heart attack when they referred to Taiwan as a country and informed the official that she had the press team correct it immediately, according to the indictment.

In 2016, Sun informed a Chinese consular official that her office received an invitation from Taiwan's economic office to attend their event for the SelectUSA Summit in Washington, D.C. However, she claimed that another colleague tried to bypass her and sent the invitation directly to the official. Sun stated that she was working to resolve the issue.

Hochul attended a reception hosted by the Chinese embassy and the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA, which was praised by top CCP leaders in Beijing. Sun later confirmed that everything had been taken care of satisfactorily.

In 2020, the Chinese state media reported that Wang Yang, a "top political advisor" in China and a "member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee," sent a congratulatory letter to the group.

According to the indictment, Hochul did not attend the Taiwan event her office was invited to.

The indictment accuses Sun of accepting gifts from Chinese officials, including luxury tickets and travel benefits, in exchange for her government roles. Additionally, the indictment alleges that Sun's husband received millions of dollars in transactions for his PRC-based business activities, which were used to purchase real estate and luxury items.

Christine Curtis, the FBI's Acting Assistant Director, criticized Sun in a statement included in the DOJ's press release on Tuesday, accusing her of using her influence with executives to secretly promote the agendas of the PRC and CCP, putting the country's national security at risk.

She stated that the FBI is dedicated to safeguarding the American public from any threat actors who attempt to manipulate government officials on behalf of foreign powers.

During a 2021 speech, Governor Hochul highlighted the former deputy chief of staff, Sun, as an example of the diversity in her staff, boasting about how she promised to bring the most qualified individuals and open up the doors so state government looks more like the people of the State of New York. However, Hochul's office has since distanced itself from Sun and downplayed her role in her administration during a Wednesday press conference.

"In just two months, we have achieved that, and I want to thank the new employee, Linda Sun, who is starting her job and is an important member of my team. Additionally, I want to thank others on my team who are present here, including Linda Sun."

Sun, who was present in over 20 publicly disclosed meetings with Hochul between August 2021 and May 2022, previously held the position of "chief diversity officer" during the latter years of the Cuomo administration, stated in a recently uncovered clip from the early months of the Hochul administration, "The majority of people agree that diversity and inclusion are positive."

She added, "But I think right now we also need to bring in the word equity."

The official stated that equity ensures that all individuals at the table have an equal opportunity to contribute their ideas and thoughts.

Unfortunately, we lack significant leadership or representation of Asian Americans in the corporate world and government field, as Sun stated.

During the webinar, Sun mentioned the 2018 executive order signed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that prioritized diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Jarrod Schaeffer, Sun's attorney, previously stated to Planet Chronicle Digital that they are concerned about certain aspects of the government's investigation.

"Schaeffer stated that the filing of the charges was disappointing, as they were inflammatory and seemed to be the result of an overly aggressive prosecution. He added that the client was eager to exercise their right to a speedy trial and defend against the accusations in a court of law."

The Chinese consulate in New York and Hochul's office were contacted by Planet Chronicle Digital.

Planet Chronicle’ Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.