An article published on May 24 in the Wall Street Journal revealed details surrounding the case of former senior adviser to the US Federal Reserve John Harold Rogers. Rogers is accused of sharing confidential information with at least two Chinese coconspirators, who worked for the intelligence and security apparatus of China and posed as graduate students at Shandong University of Finance and Economics. The report provides a glimpse into the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) tactics for infiltrating the US government.
Rogers, 63, worked as a senior adviser in the Fed’s international finance division from 2010 until 2021, during which time he had access to confidential information such as US interest rate policy, trade data and policy briefings. The US Department of Justice has charged Rogers with conspiracy to commit economic espionage, making false statements, and stealing Federal Reserve trade secrets for the benefit of the Chinese government, its agents and its instrumentalities.
How did Rogers end up becoming a CCP spy? It all started with a visit and a forum.
In 2013, Rogers visited Shanghai to attend a business forum and received a message from an individual claiming to be a “Chinese graduate student” with an “interest in the Federal Reserve.” He later accepted an all-expenses-paid invitation from the so-called graduate student and once again returned to China. According to the indictment, this individual was, in fact, a Chinese intelligence officer.
Rogers was later hired as a part-time professor at a Chinese university. His faculty contract included a salary of US$150,000 per semester, in addition to a research grant amounting to US$300,000 — he received a total of US$450,000 from the university in 2023. The justice department believes that financial incentives such as these are among the typical tactics employed by the CCP to recruit and manipulate their targets.
Throughout his many visits to China, Rogers met a woman in Shanghai, Liu Yu (劉鈺), via a Chinese matchmaking service, and the couple married in 2018. Investigators also noted that emotional connections and marriage are some other important tactics used by CCP intelligence agencies for infiltration and control.
According to the indictment, starting no later than 2018, Rogers began exploiting his employment with the Federal Reserve Board to obtain trade secrets, including economic data, briefing books designated for governors and sensitive information about Federal Open Market Committee deliberations and upcoming announcements. When passing on this information to his Chinese coconspirators, Rogers reportedly requested that their meetings appear more like classes so that they would be “legitimate in the eyes of the Fed.”
Chinese intelligence agents gave him money, a career and a wife — this three-pronged standard operating procedure feels a bit familiar, does it not?
Recently, waves of legislators in Taiwan have begun taking mysterious and unannounced trips to China, refusing outright to provide advance notice of their plans. When they return, they use legislative inquiries as a pretext to pry into national security secrets — under the guise of making it look “legitimate.” This is an implementation of the exact same strategy.
Just how many “Rogers” are there lurking in Taiwan? This case should be viewed as an important lesson from the US. It is not just national security agencies that must guard the gates — all Taiwanese who hope for national security, social stability and a comfortable way of life must remain on high alert and firmly condemn these “Rogers” in our country.
Vincent Hong is a writer and technology industry retiree.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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