Two guys connected to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were charged by U.S. prosecutors, to spy on and persecute dissidents residing in the United States, in what federal law enforcement officers have referred to as a "transnational repression scheme." on behalf of the Chinese government.

Asked for comment, a spokesman for China's embassy in Washington said it was "not aware of the specific situation" but that Beijing "firmly opposes acts by the US that groundlessly malign and smear China".

The two accused were Derrick Taylor, a former DHS law enforcement officer who is currently a private investigator in California, and Craig Miller, a deportation officer with DHS with 15 years of experience in Minnesota. U.S. Justice Department stated on Thursday.

According to a statement from the department, a grand jury handed down an indictment on Wednesday accusing the two individuals and three others of crimes they allegedly committed while serving as purported Chinese agents.

"We will defend the rights of people in the United States to engage in free speech and political expression," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen. "These individuals aided agents of a foreign government in seeking to suppress dissenting voices who have taken refuge here."

Two of the three other people-Fan "Frank" Liu and Matthew Ziburis-had already been detained in March as a result of an earlier connected allegation. Quang "Jason" Sun, the third person, is still at large, according to the Eastern District of New York prosecutors.

They said Miller and Taylor were arrested in June.

The accusations include obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence in response to FBI agents' inquiries concerning the usage of a law enforcement database including data on Chinese dissidents based in the US.

Taylor was allegedly hired by one of Liu's accomplices to gather personal information, including flight records, passport details, and photos, regarding several PRC dissidents residing in the United States. Two more DHS officers, among them Miller, are accused of helping Taylor. These DHS connections reportedly stole the data from a private government database and gave it to Taylor without authorization. These details are said to have been used by Liu, Ziburis, and Sun at the PRC's request to harass and target these dissidents.

While being questioned by investigators, Taylor allegedly told a friend to suppress information from the FBI, and Miller allegedly deleted text exchanges between him and Taylor.

The Chinese embassy spokesman, Liu Pengyu, said that China "always asks overseas Chinese citizens to comply with the host country's laws and regulations."