It is no longer a secret that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently, and in some ways radically, increased its enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA or the Act) and related foreign influence and lobbying laws that require adequate disclosure and transparency about domestic activities performed on behalf of foreign governments, companies, nonprofits, and other foreign actors. The uptick in recent prosecutions centered around improper foreign influence has been highlighted by the latest indictment of New York Mayor Eric Adams for allegedly receiving bribes and soliciting illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources tied to Turkey. He’s the third politician in just the last year who has been charged with crimes involving foreign influence operations—in the case of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, it was Egypt, and for Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, it was Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.

A recent decision by the federal district court in the Southern District of Florida (Xiamen Zhaozhao Trading Co., Ltd. v. The Individuals, Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A, No. 23-61347-CV, docket entry 21 (September 27, 2024)) permitted the Chinese corporate plaintiff to serve its complaint alleging patent infringement on the putative foreign defendants via e-mail.

China recently enacted a revision to the PRC Law on Guarding State Secrets, and shortly after Hong Kong followed suit when it passed the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.