Washington, DC - Chinese espionage directed against the United States has met with "total success for China" and "total failure" for America's own intelligence operations, said an author and reporter on national security issues.
Counter-intelligence operations have allowed the Chinese to block and manipulate U.S. electronic eavesdropping operations while the theft of U.S. technology has helped accelerate Beijing's military ambitions, Bill Gertz said Friday at a gathering of the Defense Forum Foundation on Capitol Hill. ...
For legal reasons, espionage cases are very difficult to prosecute unless someone is caught "red-handed," Gertz observed. Consequently, U.S. government officials must often settle for circumstantial evidence that translates into lesser charges. ...
One of the most sensational cases detailed in Gertz's new book involves Katrina Leung, a Los Angeles businesswoman, who secretly remained loyal to China while working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Leung is one of the many spies who got away, thanks in part to a "botched" FBI investigation, Gertz said.
U.S. officials believe Leung is responsible for compromising an electronic eavesdropping program that involved the planting of bugs on a Boeing airliner China was purchasing in 2000 for Jiang Zemin, who was the communist leader at that time.
The prosecution of Leung proved difficult because she had "intimate relations" with two FBI agents who were responsible for intelligence operations involving China, Gertz said. Consequently the espionage charges against Leung "went away." (more)
