Tiger Trap: America's Secret Spy War With China (38 page)

And finally, I am enormously grateful to my wife, Joan, who over these many long months heard more about Chinese spies than she may have wanted to know but who was always patient and supportive. Her love and understanding deserve the most thanks of all.

—D
AVID
W
ISE
Washington, DC
October 1, 2010

Notes

Unless otherwise noted, the interviews cited were conducted by the author. The Intelligence Resource Program of the Federation of American Scientists (
http://www.fas.org/irp
) archives a variety of resources relating to intelligence matters. Links to documents available at the FAS website have been included in notes where possible.

Key to abbreviations for documents cited in
PARLOR MAID
case:

RT: Affidavit of FBI special agent Randall Thomas for complaint and arrest warrant of Katrina Leung, April 8, 2003.

RT
₂
: Affidavit of FBI special agent Randall Thomas for search warrant of Leungs' bookstore and home, December 20, 2002.

OIG DOJ: Office of Inspector General, Department of Justice, Unclassified Executive Summary, "A Review of the FBI's Handling and Oversight of FBI Asset Katrina Leung."

PRELUDE

page

[>]
VIP audience of one thousand at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles
: Matt Krasnowski, "Ambivalence, Excitement, Anger to Greet Chinese President Jiang in Los Angeles," Copley News Service, October 31, 1997; K. Connie Kang and David Rosenzweig, "Plain-Faced L.A. Consulate Is No Ordinary Installation,"
Los Angeles Times
, November 2, 1997, p. A14.

[>]
"One silver moon over the window sill"
: the description of President Jiang Zemin's vocalizing is from Kam Leung interview, June 26, 2003.

[>]
"You won't believe who I just ran into.... It was Gwo-bao Min"
: I. C. Smith interviews, May 1, 2003, July 1, 2003, and July 7, 2010. See also I. C. Smith,
Inside: A Top G-Man Exposes Spies, Lies, and Bureaucratic Bungling in the FBI
(Nashville, TN: Nelson Current, 2004), p. 121. In his book, Smith refers to Min as "Mr. Lee," and writes that the FBI would not allow him to use "Mr. Lee's" true name or the code name of the investigation.

[>]
"the same guy kept showing up"
: Smith interview, May 1, 2003.

[>]
"Neither one of us believed in coincidences"
: Ibid.

1. "A THOUSAND GRAINS OF SAND"

[>]
The secret headquarters of the Ministry of State Security
: Discussion of the history and organization of the MSS draws upon the Intelligence Resource Program of the Federation of American Scientists,
http://www.fas.org/irp
; multiple interviews with former US counterintelligence agents; Jeffrey T. Richelson,
Foreign Intelligence Organizations
(Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Co., 1988), chap. 9; Patrick E. Tyler, "Cloak and Dragon; There Is No Chinese James Bond. So Far,"
New York Times,
March 23, 1997, sec. 4, p. 1; Lo Ping, "Secrets About CPC Spies—Tens of Thousands of Them Scattered Over 170-Odd Cities Worldwide,"
Cheng Ming
(Hong Kong), January 1, 1997, pp. 6–9 (US Foreign Broadcast Information Service [FBIS] Daily Reports, CHI-97-016, January 1, 1997); Tan Po, "Spy Headquarters Behind the Shrubs—Supplement to 'Secrets About CPC Spies,'"
Cheng Ming,
March 1, 1997, pp. 34–37 (FBIS Daily Reports, CHI-97-047, March 1, 1997).
[>]
Chien Men, which means "front door
": Chien Men is also the name of Beijing's main gate, the scene of heavy fighting by US Marines in August 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion.

[>]
Geng Huichang, fifty-six ... moved up to become MSS chief:
Jim Yardley, "China Replaces Key Ministers,"
New York Times,
August 31, 2007; see also Xinhua News Agency, August 31, 2007, cited in "Who's Who in China's Leadership," China Internet Information Center,
http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/222718.htm
.

[>]
Zou spoke of the "tens of thousands of nameless heroes ...":
Ping, "Secrets About CPC Spies."

[>]
Sun Tzu ... is credited with writing the classic treatise
Ping-fa,
or
The Art of War: The discussion of Sun Tzu's five kinds of intelligence agents is adapted from Allen Dulles,
The Craft of Intelligence
(New York: Harper & Row, 1963), p. 13.

[>]
"Know the enemy and know yourself ...":
There are various versions of this quotation attributed to Sun Tzu. One rendering often quoted and paraphrased appears in
Sun Tzu on the Art of War,
translated from the Chinese with an introduction and critical notes by Lionel Giles (London: Luzac & Co., 1910), chap. 3, par. 18: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

[>]
Kang Sheng was the sinister and powerful spymaster:
David Wise and Thomas B. Ross,
The Espionage Establishment
(New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 176–79; Roger Faligot and Remi Kauffer,
The Chinese Secret Service
(New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc., 1987), pp. 10–14ff.

[>]
"a thousand grains of sand":
Paul Moore interview, July 2, 2003.

[>]
a modern complex in Yasenevo:
The description of the KGB's foreign intelligence headquarters off the Moscow ring road is based on personal observation. The author was the first Western writer allowed to visit the complex. See David Wise, "Closing Down the K.G.B,"
New York Times Magazine,
November 24, 1991, pp. 30–32, 68.

[>]
"China has a different approach to intelligence":
Moore interview, August 19, 2008. Moore's quotes in this chapter on Chinese intelligence methods and how they differ from Russian tradecraft are from this interview and the July 2003 interview cited earlier.

[>]
"You may be talking about a different kind of espionage":
John F. Lewis Jr. interview, July 26, 1999.

[>]
"discreetly dipping their ties": Terrorism and Intelligence Operations: Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States,
105th Cong. (May 20, 1998), statement by Nicholas Eftimiades,
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1998_hr/eftimiad.htm
.

[>]
the most bizarre example ... is the case of Bernard Boursicot:
Richard Bernstein, "France Jails 2 in Odd Case of Espionage,"
New York Times,
May 11, 1986, p. 7; "France Pardons Chinese Spy Who Pretended to Be Woman,"
New York Times,
April 10, 1987; Richelson,
Foreign Intelligence Organizations,
pp. 300–1.
M. Butterfly,
the Broadway play based on the Boursicot story, is discussed in Jeremy Gerard, "David Hwang: Riding on the Hyphen,"
New York Times Magazine,
March 13, 1998.

[>]
[Footnote] "After he showed me the code keys":
Boris Solomatin interview, Moscow, September 24, 1991.

[>]
American technology companies "are purchased outright by Chinese state-run firms": Terrorism and Intelligence Operations: Hearing,
Eftimiades statement.

[>]
More than 127,000 students:
Institute of International Education, data for 2009–2010,
http://www.iie.org
.

[>]
"over 25,000 Chinese visit the United States each year as members of official delegations":
Interagency OPSEC Support Staff,
Intelligence Threat Handbook,
June 2004,
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/handbook/index.html
.

[>]
[Footnote] the Census Bureau survey:
US Census Bureau, S0201, Selected Population Profile in the United States, Population Group: Chinese Alone Data Set: 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. Released September 28, 2010. Data for 2009.

[>]
"all individuals of Chinese ancestry as 'overseas Chinese'":
In "Report to Congress on Chinese Espionage Activities against the United States," December 12, 1999,
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/fis/prc_1999.html
.

[>]
"They are no more likely to commit espionage than any other American":
Bruce Carlson interview, February 5, 2009.

2. PARLOR MAID

[>]
"they knew we were coming before we even left":
I. C. Smith interviews, May 1, 2003, and August 26, 2008.

[>]
code name Luo, and ... Mao:
The intercepted conversations between Leung and her Chinese spy handler are described in RT. During interviews with the FBI, "LEUNG stated ... that 'Mao' was her MSS handler, and 'Luo' was her MSS alias." RT, p. 11. A brief excerpt of one recorded conversation appears in Bill Gertz,
Enemies: How America's Foes Steal Our Vital Secrets—and How We Let It Happen
(New York: Crown Forum, 2006), pp. 22–23.

[>]
He had become Katrina Leung's lover three years earlier:
The FBI conducted four interviews with William Cleveland. During the second interview he "admitted that he had a long-term sexual relationship with LEUNG." In the fourth interview he said it had begun in 1988. The FBI documents do not name Cleveland but clearly describe the subject as the former special supervisory agent in charge of the Chinese counterintelligence squad in San Francisco. RT, pp. 18–19.

[>]
Almost from the start, J.J. had begun a sexual relationship of his own with Ms. Leung:
The relationship began in August 1983, a year after J.J. first interviewed her. OIG DOJ, p. 6.

[>]
"I made the recommendation we move forward with the case":
Paul Moore interview, August 19, 2008.

[>]
the FBI's technicians had succeeded in bugging the consulate's copying machines:
Interviews with former FBI agents. According to the
Newsweek
article, the $3,000 check from the Chinese consulate was paid to the Hollywood Metropolitan Hotel, owned by Ted Sioeng.

[>]
"if we close it down, does she stop going to China?":
Moore interview, August 19, 2008.

[>]
She also agreed from then on to provide everything she knew about FBI operations to the MSS:
RT2, pp. 20–22. Exactly when the MSS recruited Leung is unclear. A 2003 government "Memorandum of Points and Authorities" states that "in 1990 ... she began work for the Ministry of State Security ('MSS'), which is the PRC's spy service" (Memorandum, pp. 7–8). Similarly, a Justice Department review says that "according to Smith's contemporary notes, he confronted Leung about her alias and ... Leung responded that the PRC had discovered her relationship with the FBI in 1990 and had coerced her into cooperating with them" (OIG DOJ, p. 10). Since Leung, in the confrontation in her kitchen, claimed she had begun cooperating with the MSS in 1986 or 1987, it is uncertain why Smith's "contemporary notes" would have fixed the date as 1990. However, Leung knew from the confrontation with Smith that her conversation with Mao had been intercepted in 1990. Since that date appeared to be the FBI's first irrefutable, documented evidence that she had been working for China, she or Smith would have had no incentive to disclose that she had cooperated with the MSS prior to that time, if she had done so.

[>]
J.J.... made her apologize to Cleveland in a San Francisco hotel room:
RT2, p. 21.

3. THE RECRUITMENT

[>]
It was there that Katrina Leung was born:
Biographical details of Katrina Leung's early life, immigration to the United States, and marriage are from Kam Leung interviews, June 25, 2003, and June 26, 2003.

[>]
"Katrina sleepwalks":
Kam Leung quotes in this chapter are from the interviews cited above.

[>]
Kam Leung was born in Hong Kong in 1951:
Details of Kam Leung's background are from Kam Leung interviews cited above.

[>]
the FBI began a full field investigation of Katrina:
The two FBI investigations of Katrina Leung prior to her recruitment by the FBI are described in OIG DOJ, pp. 3–4.

4. DOUBLE GAME

[>]
"But J.J. was a rare duck, he went into FCI":
John L. Hoos interview, June 10, 2003.

[>]
By August 1983 they had hopped into bed:
OIG DOJ, p. 6.

[>]
in June 1983 convicted of espionage in a Beijing court:
Richard Bernstein, "China Said to Jail Ex-U.S. Attorney,"
New York Times,
January 20, 1984; Michael Weisskopf, "Peking Imprisons Harvard-Educated Hong Kong Lawyer as Spy,"
Washington Post,
February 1, 1984, p. A27.

[>]
J.J.'s first major assignment for Katrina:
I.C. Smith interview, August 26, 2008.

[>]
"I said, 'Dammit, J.J., where's the fucking beef?'":
Ibid.

[>]
"she knocked on the door of the MSS":
Kam Leung interview, June 25, 2003. This is the source of all quotes from Kam Leung in this chapter.

[>]
contributing $10,000 to Los Angeles mayor Richard J. Riordan and $4,200 to Bill Simon Jr.:
Margaret Talev, "Spy Case Arrest Shocks GOP Friends,"
Sacramento Bee,
April 11, 2003, p. A3.

[>]
the Leungs contributed some $27,000 to the Republican Party during the 1990s:
Dan Eggen and R. Jeffrey Smith, "Lieberman Seeks Donations Probe,"
Washington Post,
April 27, 2003, p. A12.

[>]
"She was the one who put the trip together":
Peter Woo interview, June 18, 2003.