American sentenced to 2 years for working as Chinese intelligence asset

An American journalist who was paid at least $100,000 to develop U.S.-based sources for China’s intelligence apparatus was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday.

Thomas W. Pauken II moved to China in 2010, at a point when “his life was a mess and he needed a clean slate,” according to his attorney. He found work as a writer, videographer and copy editor, cycling through different Chinese radio and broadcast networks.