Nicholas Eftimiades | intelNews.org

Review of “Chinese Espionage Operations and Tactics” (Second Edition)

February 19, 2025 by intelNews 2 Comments

Chinese Espionage Operations and Tactics MUCH HAS HAPPENED IN the West and in China since Nick Eftimiades first published Chinese Espionage Operations in 1994. It was the first in-depth study of Chinese espionage operations, which for decades had been overshadowed by Soviet intelligence and their espionage operations.

Throughout much of the latter part of the 20^th century, United States and other Western security services viewed Chinese intelligence and security services as being focused on their own internal security matters. They were not nearly as well-known or recognized as other adversarial intelligence and security services. Nick was one of first experts to shine a light on Chinese intelligence operations. Since that time, he has dedicated his career and untold time and efforts to better understand Chinese intelligence tactics and techniques.

In the second edition of the book, Nick provides a comprehensive analysis and assessment on how the espionage and intelligence threat from China has grown significantly over the past three decades. He explains this in very clear and unambiguous terms to anyone who seeks a better understanding of these threats. This book is a culmination of more 30 years of dedicated research and the analysis of hundreds of cases that involve China. It focuses, not only on traditional espionage cases and operations, but examines motives, techniques and tactics relating to economic espionage, the theft of trade secrets and the theft of academic research and development.

There are a number of detailed case studies and real-life examples in the book, which show it is not only Chinese government organizations that pose a significant threat to United States and Western interests, but also a multitude of actors —e.g., academia, business people and researchers, with access to universities, commercial entities and think tanks. Chinese intelligence operatives conduct activities in all these areas in order to help China fulfill its strategic information and technology requirements and objectives. Nick examines China’s Whole of Society approach to a number of recent traditional and non-traditional collection efforts.

Chinese Espionage Operations and Tactics is an absolute must-read for individuals who handle national security matters; for state and local officials who are engaged in discussions with Chinese officials; for American and other Western businesses who are, or who will be, doing business with Chinese counterparts; for those in academia and research institutes involved with technology research and development, and finally for those who seek a better understanding of the threats posed by China’s growing and expanding worldwide presence and intelligence apparatus.

► Author: John N. Wanat* | Date: 19 February 2025 | Permalink

John N. Wanat retired as Assistant Director for Investigations, Office of Export Enforcement, Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with book news and reviews, China, espionage, Nicholas Eftimiades

Profile of Tang Yuanjun, alleged asset for Chinese intelligence 2018-2023

September 5, 2024 by intelNews 1 Comment

Yuanjun Tang TANG YUANJUN WAS ARRESTED by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in August 2024. He allegedly worked as a Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) asset between 2018 and 2023. He reported on the following categories of information that were of interest to the MSS:

Prominent U.S.-based Chinese democracy activists and dissidents.
US Chinese-American Member of Congress Xiong Yan, from New York.
Immigration claims from dissidents wanting to leave China for the US.

According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Tang expressed his desire to see his aging family in China. A prominent dissident such as Tang would not be able to travel to China without being arrested, unless his travel had been approved by authorities. An acquaintance helped him establish secure online contact with the MSS. After being recruited, Tang reported to the MSS using an email account, encrypted chats, text messages and audio and video calls. Tang helped the MSS infiltrate a group chat on WhatsApp; used by numerous People’s Republic of China (PRC) dissidents and pro-democracy activists to communicate about pro-democracy issues and express criticism of the PRC government. In fact, this was what users called a “super group”. It is a group that consists of many other groups. Members could not even identify who was the sponsor of the group chats [1].

In addition, Tang reportedly video-recorded a June 2020 Zoom discussion commemorating the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in the PRC. The Zoom online discussion was led by Zhou Fengsuo, Director of the June 4th Memorial Museum in New York City and a leading advocate for democracy in China. The Ministry of Public Security also infiltrated these discussions with the assistance of Zoom China and US based employees [2].

Tang was Secretary General of the overseas headquarters of the China Democratic Party United Headquarters in New York City. This non-profit organization assists mainland Chinese dissidents in immigration and asylum applications for the US. Tang allegedly provided information on these individuals to the MSS [3]. Tang also allegedly identified ten immigration attorneys to support MSS efforts to place assets in the US. Other dissident organizations in New York and Los Angeles provide similar visa application services to generate income.

In 2022, reportedly Tang met with the MSS in Changchun City, Jilin Province, China, where an officer installed a software on Tang’s phone which Tang believed to be a “bug” that caused all photographs and videos captured on the phone to be transmitted to the MSS. In his role as leading democracy advocate Tang encouraged dissidents to attend protests in Manhattan and Washington DC. He used the compromised phone to take photographs of the events. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) then used the photographs as evidence against overseas dissidents. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, counterintelligence, immigration intelligence, MSS (China), Nicholas Eftimiades, Yuanjun Tang

Tradecraft observations on the Reichenbach/Fischer espionage case

May 3, 2024 by intelNews 3 Comments

Germany Reichstag SEVERAL CASES OF CHINESE espionage have been announced recently in Europe. Thomas Reichenbach and Herwig and Ina Fischer —a married couple— were arrested on April 22, 2024, for illegal exports of dual use technology with military (naval) applications.

Reichenbach lists himself as a contract marketing manager for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. He studied at Peking University in the mid-1980s. He worked in China, speaks Mandarin, and has a Chinese wife.

Herwig and Ina Fischer own a small engineering consulting company named Innovative Dragon in Duesseldorf. Both have travelled extensively in China. Innovative Dragon contracts for technical research with universities. Herwig studied mechanical engineering and aircraft and spacecraft construction at the Rhine-Westphalia Higher Technical School, focusing on guidance technology and composite fiber materials. The company headquarters are in London and there are offices in Duesseldorf and Shanghai (Donghua University Science and Technology Park). The London office does not appear to have a functioning telephone number.

Reichenbach is suspected of having been recruited by the Ministry of State Security (MSS) in China. The German government has accused the trio of having illegally exported dual use technology since at least 2022. At the time of the arrests, the suspects were in negotiations on additional research projects useful for expanding the combat strength of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy.

Status: Alleged

Tradecraft observations:

Use of a potential front company in London to facilitate allegedly illegal exports.
Use of third countries to facilitate allegedly illegal exports.
Reichenbach allegedly recruited Herwig and Ina Fischer and handled them as in-country assets.
It is alleged that the MSS probably recruited Reichenbach in China.
An MSS officer allegedly handled Reichenbach from China (linear control).
The MSS allegedly funded the operation through front companies.

► Author: Nicholas Eftimiades* | Date: 03 May 2024 | Permalink

* Nicholas Eftimiades is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He retired from a 34-year government career that included employment in the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He held appointments on the Department of Defense’s Defense Science Board and the Economic Security Subcommittee of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. He is an advisor to the United States Intelligence Community. Eftimiades authored numerous works on China’s espionage methods. His books, Chinese Intelligence Operations (1994) and Chinese Espionage: Operations and Tactics (2020) are examinations of the structure, operations, and methodology of China’s intelligence services. They are widely regarded as seminal works in the field.