8 Facts About Huang Jing, The Alleged S’pore PR ‘Spy’ Back in 2017

Singapore has a tenuous relationship with spies.

Back when Singapore was still young and vulnerable, Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, came into conflict with the US.

In 1960, a CIA agent was caught trying to buy information off a Singapore intelligence officer. Then, the CIA had offered to pay US$3 million to cover up the matter but Mr Lee rejected the deal.

Instead, he asked that the US provide formal economic aid worth US$33 million to Singapore.

Everyone agreed and Mr Lee was given a formal letter of apology.

In 1965, Mr Lee revealed the matter on television, and when the US tried to deny his claims, he brought the letter out as proof.

Earlier this morning, we got to know about Dickson Yeo Jun Wei, who has just plead guilty to spying for China.

Interesting stuff, but did you know that in 2017, Singapore had another spy incident?

His name is Huang Jing, and here are 10 facts about this alleged Singapore PR Spy.

1. Who Is Huang Jing?

Born in 1956, Huang Jing is a Chinese-American political scientist and alleged spy.

His education resume is extensive:

• A bachelor of arts degree in English from Sichuan University
• A master’s degree in history from Fudan University
• And a PhD from Harvard University

2. A Director At The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

His career was very extensive as well, with his work bringing him across the globe.

He taught at Harvard University from 1993 to 1994. He then moved on to Utah University to be an associate professor of political science from 1994 to 2004.

During that time, he was also the director of the Asia Studies Program and was granted tenure in 1998.

He also taught at Shandong University and was a Shorenstein fellow at Stanford University from 2002 to 2003 and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John Thornton China Center from 2004 to 2008.

In 2008, he made Singapore his home when he arrived to take up a position at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

He was the director of the Centre on Asia and Globalization and the Lee Foundation Professor on US-China Relations.

And just when it seems like things were going well, 2017 happened.

3. An Agent of Influence For A Foreign Country

In 2017, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) accused Huang of working as an agent of influence for a foreign country.

Then, they did not name the foreign country in question but claims that he and his wife “worked with intelligence organisations and agents from that country”.

He had also added others to help him in his efforts, such as making sure certain comments would reach the decisionmakers within the Singapore government.

“Huang used his senior position in the LKYSPP to deliberately and covertly advance the agenda of a foreign country at Singapore’s expense. He did this in collaboration with foreign intelligence agents.”

This means that Huang had tried to subvert and allow foreign interference in Singapore’s domestic politics, which is “undesirable”.

Both Huang’s and his wife’s PR status were revoked on 4 Aug 2017.

4. Huang Tried To Fight The Charges But Failed

In response, Huang said that the allegations against him are false.

He added that it’s strange how the Singapore authorities chose not to reveal the “foreign country” that he is colluding with.

He said that he plans to appeal against the government’s decision to permanently ban him from Singapore.

“My family and my home are all here. I have property in Singapore, too. How can they treat me like this? If they have evidence, they should take me to court.”

Well, he failed to change the government’s mind and the couple left Singapore on 7 Sep 2017.

5. Left For Washington DC To Prove A Point

As an academic, especially in something as sensitive as the political science sphere, Professor Huang has something to prove: that he is not who Singapore says he is.

After being expelled from Singapore, Huang travelled back to Washington DC to work for a year.

Since Singapore has refused to say who he is allegedly working for, he wanted to show that at least the US doesn’t think he is working for anyone.

“I worked the whole year in Washington DC, my home, to show that I am not what Singapore implied I am. Right now, Singapore has not clarified which foreign country I work with, so I wanted to show that at least the US doesn’t think I am working for whoever.”

It was also revealed that Huang had wanted to retire in Singapore before the entire spy saga cropped up.

6. No Hard Feelings

In the same catch-up interview by SCMP, Professor Huang also said that he has no hard feelings towards Singapore.

He added that while Singapore has “overplayed” their hands for some reason, the country has treated him “very well”.

“Whatever Singapore did or has done or will do, they have their own reasons and interests to take care of and I understand that. So I am fine.”

Professor Huang was the dean of the Institute of International and Regional Studies at Beijing Language and Cultural University during the interview in 2019.

7. “I Made Some Mistakes.”

While Professor Huang was speaking about the 2017 incident, he mentioned that he has made some mistakes, things that he should pay the price for.

However, he has decided to let bygones be bygones and will continue to try “to be a good scholar, deliver some public good and do some research”.

As for what the mistakes were, he did not elaborate much on them.

8. Some Felt The Expulsion Was S’pore’s Message To The World

Back in 1988, Singapore expelled the American embassy’s first secretary E. Mason Hendrickson who was allegedly trying to get a group of lawyers to stand in the general elections.

Sounds similar, right?

In 2017, Singapore was in a dangerous position on the global stage. China was growing stronger but it doesn’t really like Singapore (then).

China accused Singapore of being too pro-US.

And there were many differing opinions on how Singapore should’ve handled the various global issues like the China-Philippines conflict South China Sea dispute.

Some critics said Singapore shouldn’t have spoken up while others sent a strongly-worded letter to the government.

Professor Huang was one of the more vocal critics, calling some of the government’s actions “strategic errors”.

With the sudden shocking expulsion of Professor Huang, many have read it as Singapore telling the rest of the world:

Yes, we might be small but we are our own country.

That and we don’t appreciate many people meddling in what we think is right.

Now that you know who Huang Jing is, it’s time to read about a real Singaporean spy: