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From: "Yolvas Tiger" <yolvas@hotm...>
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The FBI and the Chinese Spy Army

by James Dunnigan
February 27, 2005

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200522722.asp

China has been running a massive intelligence operation against the United
States for over two decades. But they are starting to be victims of their
own success, as the FBI round up more and more Chinese spies. China has been
using a very clever, and effective technique to steal technology, and even
military secrets, from the United States. Call it the “swarming spies
method.” In the 1980s, China began to send thousands of students to American
schools, and many more Chinese managers and technical experts began to visit
as well. Chinese intelligence made sure they had a chat with many of these
people before they left, and after they came back. The people going to
America were asked to bring back anything that might “help the motherland.”
Most of these people were not asked to actually act as spies, but simply to
share, with Chinese government officials (who were not always identified as
intelligence personnel) whatever information they obtained. Of course, it
soon became open knowledge in China, and in American intelligence agencies,
what was going on.

China has never been energetic at enforcing intellectual property laws. If a
Chinese student came back with valuable technical information (obtained in a
classroom, in a job, or simply while socializing), the data was often passed
on to Chinese companies, or military organizations, that could use it. Since
there were few individual Chinese bringing back a lot of data, or material
(CDs full of technical data, or actual components or devices), it was
difficult for the FBI to catch Chinese “spies”. There were thousands of
them, and most were simply going back to China with secrets in their heads.
How do you stop that?

The FBI has managed to crack the more ambitious of these spies, the ones
caught red handed with actual objects. But most of the swarm moved back to
China unhindered. Naturally, the Chinese pushed their system as far as they
could. Why not? There was little risk. The Chinese offered large cash
rewards for Chinese who could get particularly valuable stuff back to China.
Chinese intelligence looked on these "purchases" as strictly commercial
transactions. If the Chinese “spies” got caught, they were on their own. The
Chinese involved knew the rules. If they were successful, they won favor
with the government, or even made a pile of money, and the Chinese
government was agreeable to whatever business deals these "patriotic"
Chinese tried to put together back in China. This kind of clout is important
in China, where a “friend in the government” is more valuable than in the
United States.

But more and more of these ambitious Chinese agents are getting caught,
largely because the FBI has made the problem known to the American business
and academic community. Chinese-Americans, in particular, have been very
active in supplying tips to the FBI. The number of arrests the FBI has been
making has been going up 20-30 percent a year for the past few years. The
FBI has more work than they can handle.

The Chinese are feeling the heat, not that they are in any danger of being
cut off from opportunities to steal American technology, though. But the
Chinese system has reached its limits, and is being pushed back in some
areas. It is thought that the Chinese are responding by trying to terrorize
Chinese-Americans, at least those with family back in China, by threatening
to make life uncomfortable for family members back in the old country if
Chinese-Americans interfere with the spying, or any other Chinese government
activities. The Chinese have been discreet with this. The last thing they
want is a lot of stories of heavy handed pressure on Chinese-Americans. But
arrests of Chinese-Americans back in China on business, or to visit family,
sends a message. These arrests, and lesser forms of harassment, make it
clear that there can be consequences. The Chinese deny any pressure tactics,
but they are feeling the heat from the increased scrutiny of Chinese
citizens in the United States, and the growing eagerness of
Chinese-Americans to watch for this low level spying, and report it. The
down side of the Chinese “swarm” system is that they are using amateur
spies. Many don’t even know they are spying, or don't think of themselves as
spies. After all, the only thing they are doing is having a long talk with
Chinese intelligence officials (usually with a technical expert in
attendance), when they get back. Each of these conversations might yield a
few useful bits of information. Putting a lot of these bits together and you
get something useful, like how to build better jet engines, or nuclear
weapons.

There are currently some 19,000 Chinese studying in American schools, and
thousands more visiting for business purposes. Most want nothing to do with
spying, but very few will refuse a request to have a chat with Chinese
intelligence officers when they get home.

_________________________________________________________________
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