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Concern grows over Beijing’s use of Chinese diaspora for espionage, following arrest of ex-CIA agent

WASHINGTON — The arrest of an ex-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent accused of spying for China has trained the spotlight once again on Beijing’s use of ethnic Chinese immigrants to carry out espionage and influence activities in their home countries, a practice that has raised alarm bells and sparked warnings in several nations.

China killed or imprisoned several CIA informants in the country starting in 2010, unravelling the agency’s source network in a devastating setback for the CIA.  Photo: The New York Times

China killed or imprisoned several CIA informants in the country starting in 2010, unravelling the agency’s source network in a devastating setback for the CIA. Photo: The New York Times

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WASHINGTON — The arrest of an ex-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent accused of spying for China has trained the spotlight once again on Beijing’s use of ethnic Chinese immigrants to carry out espionage and influence activities in their home countries, a practice that has raised alarm bells and sparked warnings in several nations.

The practice has made the headlines in Australia and New Zealand in recent months, resulting in government warnings and newspaper exposes of this modus operandi.

The arrest of former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, on Tuesday (Jan 16) capped an intense Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inquiry that began around 2012, two years after the CIA began losing its informants in China.

More than a dozen CIA informants were killed or imprisoned by the Chinese government, allegedly as a result of Lee’s activities.

The collapse of the spy network was one of the American government’s worst intelligence failures in recent years.

Lee was charged in federal court in Northern Virginia with the unlawful retention of national defence information.

His arrest, the latest in a line of espionage-related charges against ethnic Chinese migrants accused of acting for Beijing, came a day after The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner was warned by American counter-intelligence officials that a close friend, Wendi Deng Murdoch, could be using her friendship with him to aid the Chinese government.

Last year, Australia’s defence and intelligence community warned that China’s attempts to exert its influence in Australia posed a direct threat to the country’s sovereignty.

Controversy has also brewed in New Zealand, where reports that China is seeking to gain influence in the country’s politics have hit the headlines with some regularity over the past year.

Beijing has consistently denied that it interferes in the internal affairs of any country.

Still, there exists a little-known branch under the ruling Communist Party known as the United Front Work Department, which is leading Beijing’s push for global “soft power” through securing support for China’s political agenda, accumulating influence overseas and gathering key information.

This includes efforts to co-opt or subvert a broad range of actors and institutions, from politicians to media outlets to universities, although it primarily targets the Chinese diaspora — an estimated 60 million people around the world.

“The People’s Republic of China has long relied on ethnic ties to enable its espionage. In spying, they are deeply dependent on the more than fifty million people of Chinese extraction worldwide who are living outside China and Taiwan, whom Beijing terms Overseas Chinese,” wrote Mr John Schindler, a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counter-intelligence officer in a 2016 article in Observer.

China spends between US$10 billion (S$13.47 billion) and US$12 billion a year on a wide range of “soft power” efforts, Mr David Shambaugh, director of the China policy programme at George Washington University told the Financial Times recently.

Such efforts include traditional lobbying and public relations campaigns, as well as more clandestine forms of influence-building.

Analysts told TODAY that while countries do try to influence other states’ domestic politics through legal means such as diplomacy, public outreach and regulated lobbying processes, the difference with China is that by virtue of its size and that of its diaspora, the Asian giant has more means at its disposal to engage in various types of activities aimed at advancing its national interests.

“Governments are unlikely to admit to such clandestine activities, whatever they may say. China is no exception,” said Assistant Professor Chong Ja Ian, a lecturer at the National University of Singapore’s Political Science Department.

“Countries around the region should, of course, be alert to extra-legal forms of foreign influence, which are by their nature difficult to confirm,” he added.

Asst Prof Chong said one way to curb foreign influence is to educate the population about what is at stake in their own national interests.

“Another is to educate people about what to watch out in terms of influence activities, especially what is legal and what may not be,” he said.

He added that reports of Chinese espionage activities could be detrimental to China’s international standing and ties with other countries.

“Further revelations of extra-legal, clandestine, and illegal PRC influence efforts—especially if proven—is likely to create more suspicion and wariness of the PRC government and interactions with the PRC,” he said, using the acronym for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

Ms Yun Sun, a senior associate at the Stimson Center in Washington DC said there is a fine line between lobbying for China and undermining the political processes in foreign countries.

"I think China has a very large appetite for such influence, and it could easily get on the track of shaping the elections, supporting China-friendly candidates, promoting pro-China propaganda and the so-called China Model.And it will easily get on the track of export of ideology," she said, noting that China is already so in some developing countries, such as training foreign officials to learn the Chinese model of governance.

"Countries worry about the Chinese economic influence over their politics, and China’s overt moves in the political arena only makes it worse. I think this has and will have a counterproductive effect over what China wants to achieve."

However, Prof Zhang Baohui, an international relations expert at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, played down China’s activities, noting that they are not “something unusual”, and are “very common”. He added, for example, that the US “must have numerous spies in China”.

“Regarding Chinese attempts to affect other countries’ domestic politics, my own view is that these countries should no exaggerate the peculiarity of Chinese behaviour here,” he added.

“This is again a very common practice by states to try to influence the politics of another country. The issue is whether China does it legally or illegally. In some countries, it is legal for other countries to do lobbying,” he said.

China expert Steve Tsang said that there was a need to make a distinction between espionage and United Front work given that all major powers engage in espionage work, including China.  

"I don’t find this exceptional or particularly worrying," he said, adding what is more worrying is the efforts by the United Front to get foreign academics and businesses to adhere to political positions of the Chinese government, such as using maps or terms that the Chinese Government approves of.

"This is highly problematic, as it affects academic integrity and independence.  It also brings politics into businesses in a way that is not in line with a democratic way of life," said Prof Tsang, director of SOAS China Institute at the University of London. 

"If those at the receiving end do not stand up for their core values - democracy, human rights, academic integrity, and the right not to be required to take side in national or international politics for businesses, a moral hazard will be created, and the government that perpetuates such interference will be emboldened to do more."

AGENCIES with additional reporting by Eileen Ng

Worries grow over perceived Chinese influence in other nations

Below are some incidences of alleged Chinese influence in the affairs of other nations:

Australia
In June, Fairfax Media and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on a concerted campaign by China to “infiltrate” Australian politics to promote Chinese interests. Six months later, Australian senator Sam Dastyari quit his post after coming under heavy scrutiny over his relationship with a wealthy political donor associated with the Chinese Communist Party. 

Subsequently, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull singled out Beijing when he said foreign powers were attempting to “influence the political process” in Australia. Canberra in December introduced laws to crack down on interference by overseas powers, banning foreign political donations and toughening up definitions of treason and espionage.

New Zealand 
The Financial Times reported last September that Mr Jian Yang - a Chinese-born member of the New Zealand parliament, had served on the country’s parliamentary select committee for foreign affairs, defence and trade despite having spent 15 years training and working in Chinese military intelligence.

In briefings prepared for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Mr Andrew Little, the minister in charge of security agencies, the intelligence community has expressed concern over Beijing’s political influence in New Zealand. There appears to have been a surge in political activity from people with alleged ties to China’s Communist party. 

Germany 
Late last year, China denied that its intelligence agents had used fake social network profiles to gather information about German officials and politicians. The denial comes after Germany released a list of such profiles and warned of a broad attempt to infiltrate German parliaments and government agencies.

United States 
In Washington last month, the US Congress held a hearing to discuss the “long arm of China” following concerns over the Asian giant’s growing influence. “Attempts by the Chinese government to guide, buy, or coerce political influence and control discussion of ‘sensitive’ topics are pervasive, and pose serious challenges in the United States and our like-minded allies,” said Mr Marco Rubio, chairman of the congressional executive commission on China. 

Additionally, the Wall Street Journal reported this month that American counter-intelligence officials warned US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner early last year that a close friend, Ms Wendi Deng Murdoch, could be using her friendship with him to aid the Chinese government. AGENCIES

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