A federal jury has found a US citizen of Chinese descent not guilty of illegally acting as an agent of Beijing, following a six-day trial that concluded on Monday.

“The jury’s verdict affirmed what we have always known: that Mr. Liang was never an agent of China and he was wrongly accused,” said defence lawyer Derege Demissie.

In Liang’s case, some groups have come to his defence, calling his prosecution reminiscent of the McCarthy-era “Red Scare”.

“Autocratic regimes blame all domestic problems on vague foreign influence,” Diana Fu, an associate professor at the University of Toronto, wrote in a report published last week.

The acquittal also comes as US Attorney General Pam Bondi disbands the Justice Department’s Foreign Influence Task Force, Bondi also called for a scale-back of criminal enforcement of foreign-agent laws.

Litang Liang of Brighton, Massachusetts, had been charged with two counts related to acting as a foreign agent without notifying the US attorney general, and faced 10 years or more in prison.

Federal prosecutors said that Liang, a hotel worker in his mid-60s, acted as an agent of the Chinese government by collecting information about Boston-area residents, organisations and dissidents and sharing the details with Beijing.

Liang, who was arrested in 2023, denied acting under the control or direction of Chinese officials. He said he was simply expressing views and conducting activities that happen to align with the Chinese government, arguing that his communication with officials alone should not be grounds for suspicion.