A US federal jury on Aug. 20 found US Navy sailor Wei Jinchao, also known as Patrick Wei, guilty of espionage for selling classified defense information to Chinese intelligence operatives for US$12,000. The case against the 25-year-old again highlights a troubling trend of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recruiting ethnic Chinese abroad.
Wei, who is facing a sentence of life in prison, was born in China and became a naturalized US citizen. While he was convicted on six counts related to espionage, he was not found guilty of naturalization fraud.
The vulnerability of Chinese abroad stems from familial and ancestral ties in China — bonds the CCP exploits through coercion, inducement and blackmail to pressure people into cooperating with Beijing. The same tactics are deployed against exiled dissidents.
The Hong Kong-based magazine The Insider reported that the Chinese Ministry of State Security often operates under the guise of civilian institutions, such as Xinhua news agency, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the China Association for International Friendly Contact and the China International Travel Service.
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) became general secretary of the CCP, he has pushed for the globalization of China’s public security forces. Under the initiative, so-called overseas police outposts have been set up by public security bureaus in multiple countries, tasked with intimidating dissidents, collecting intelligence and suppressing opposition abroad.
Public records show that Taiwan is home to more than 360,000 Chinese spouses. The majority of them likely relocated to Taiwan because of love, as opposed to the notion depicted in Chinese espionage drama The Message (潛伏), in which CCP agents masquerade as married couples for the purpose of government-backed intelligence.
Yet a single rotten apple can spoil the barrel. How many Patrick Weis are quietly embedded in Taiwan?
Although people should not descend into paranoia over the issue, they should remain vigilant. After all, while some threats hide in the shadows, others pose as innocuous bystanders, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike.
Wei, who is to be sentenced on Dec. 1, faces a lifetime behind bars in the US, and yet in Taiwan, CCP spies are frequently met with little more than a slap on the wrist — a discrepancy that is troubling and disheartening.
Yu Kung is a business professional.
Translated by Lenna Veronica Sumiski
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