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ISD detains S'porean Dickson Yeo, who spied for China, for acting as paid agent of foreign state

Dickson Yeo has been detained under the Internal Security Act for two years.PHOTO: DICKSON YEO/FACEBOOK
Hariz Baharudin
UPDATED Jun 16, 2021, 05:53 AM

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean man who had worked for China's intelligence services since 2015 has been detained for two years under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for being a threat to Singapore.

Dickson Yeo, 40, had acted as a paid agent of a foreign state, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Tuesday (June 15).

He was arrested by ISD on Dec 30 last year, after he was deported to S'pore from United States upon completion of a 14-month jail term for spying for China in the US. Yeo was issued an order of detention under the ISA on Jan 29.

"He had also tried, but failed, to secure employment in the Singapore Government sector to further his information-gathering activities. Yeo had carried out these activities over a period from 2016 until his arrest in the US in 2019," said ISD.


The department said investigations are ongoing and that Yeo's continued detention is necessary to allow the ISD to find out the full extent of his activities.

During a trip to Beijing in 2015, Yeo was recruited by Chinese agents who claimed to represent think-tanks. He was studying for a doctorate at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore at that time.

US court documents show he admitted to being offered money in exchange for political reports and information, initially on South-east Asia, before focusing on the US.

He also made numerous trips to meet the Chinese agents he was in contact with, trawled social networking sites to find targets and was directed to set up a fake consulting firm, Resolute Consulting - the same name as a renowned US firm.