Chinese Spies in U.S. Portend War With China
Espionage Success Seen as Prelude to War

According to federal investigators, four people recently arrested in Los Angeles are part of an extensive network of Chinese military intelligence agents operating here in the United States. The alleged spies have been working in the U.S. since 1990 and, according to documents obtained from the suspects, they may have compromised some of America's most important weapon systems.

All four were arrested and charged with theft of government property. The charges are expected to be upgraded to espionage or espionage-related, according to law enforcement officials.

According to investigators, the ring consisted of Chi Mak and his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, along with Chi's brother, Tai Wang Mak, and his wife, Fuk Heung Li. Documents found at the search of Chi's home in Downey, California, showed that sensitive data on Aegis battle management systems have been passed to communist China.

Chi reportedly holds a secret-level security clearance and worked on more than 200 U.S. defense and military contracts as an electrical engineer with the defense contractor Power Paragon, a subsidiary of L3/SPD Technologies/Power Systems Group in Anaheim, Calif. In addition, Chi had access to details on U.S. aircraft carriers and once was aboard the USS Stennis.

Tai Wang Mak, a broadcast and engineering director for the Phoenix North American Chinese television network in the U.S., and his wife, Fuk Heung Li, were arrested after counterintelligence officers concluded that the couple planned to hand-carry to China a CD encrypted with information on U.S. Navy submarine technology.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Deidre Z. Eliot said that Chi told the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that Tai Mak is a member of the Chinese military.

The list of U.S. weapons compromised by the spy ring includes the Navy Aegis air defense system, U.S. carrier defenses, U.S. submarine silent propulsion systems – including the new Virginia-class attack submarines – electromagnetic pulse weapons and unmanned aerial vehicle technology.

The success of the Chinese military spy ring raised a great deal of concern within the U.S. intelligence and defense communities.

The Price Is U.S. Blood

One U.S. China expert, who asked not to be named, said: "This is a national crisis. As a nation we must confront the reality that China is actively mobilizing the Chinese-American community to subvert the security of the United States of America."

"This latest Chinese penetration will cost American lives as much as it could mean we could lose the coming war for Taiwan, and with it, our strategic and economic ascendancy in Asia. There must be no confusion: China has committed an act of war that belies all its bloviation about 'peaceful rise,'" stated the expert.

"There is now a clear case to redouble security regarding any Chinese-American that has any access to American classified information. In addition, any Chinese-American with clearances who communicates with anyone in China, family or otherwise, must be immediately polygraphed," he asserted.

"Furthermore, any U.S. university that has security-related research contracts with U.S. government must be given a detailed security review procedure to fulfill regarding any contact with Chinese nationals as a requirement for any further payment. The president himself must make a public statement that it is the patriotic duty of any Chinese-American citizen to cooperate fully with U.S. government authorities regarding any knowledge of espionage by China," he said.

"He must also tell Chinese President Hu Jintao himself that America's ethnic Chinese community is not a weapon that he can use to attack America. To be sure, the Wen Ho Lee Lie-for-China brigade will spring into action, but let them scream, as we know where their sympathies lie. It is the Chinese Communist government which is seeking to claim the loyalty of all ethnic Chinese, and if China is ever to see the light of freedom, we must fight back by enforcing American law and demanding loyalty to the United States by all of its citizens."

Red Race Card

The view that Beijing is playing both the "race" and "nationality" cards when recruiting spies is shared by many others inside the U.S. intelligence community. The CIA published a report noting that the success of Chinese military espionage units often depended on these factors being played by Beijing.

"Because most Chinese share a common cultural and historical background, Chinese leaders refer to all individuals of Chinese ancestry as 'overseas' Chinese. When approaching an individual of Chinese origin, the Chinese intelligence services attempt to secure his or her cooperation by playing on this shared ancestry," noted the CIA.

Other China experts, such as Al Santoli, director of the Asia America Initiative, noted that the success of the Chinese military spy ring is a direct threat to both world peace and U.S. national security.

"The communist Chinese have for 15 years been working to obtain the most classified secrets of our best weapons through espionage. The successful penetration by the PLA military intelligence department has now left the U.S. defenseless against air, land, space and sea attack," stated Santoli.

"Russia is assisting the PRC in developing and deploying advanced weapons. These weapons are designed for a quick and decisive attack against America. The knowledge of these sensitive U.S. systems, combined with anti-Aegis missiles and other sophisticated weapons obtained from Moscow, can enable Beijing to deliver what the PLA calls an 'Assassin's Mace' surprise attack against US forces in the Taiwan Strait, the Sea of Japan, Hawaii and the entire Trans-Pacific region," noted Santoli.

War on the Horizon

U.S. officials are not the only ones worried about a coming war between America and China. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said during a recent speech that the United States cannot possibly win a war against China because Beijing "holds no value at all for human life."

The governor made the remark in a speech on "Japan's Future Potential" at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"Wars are a war of attrition of lives. China holds no value at all for human life and can start a war without any concerns," said Ishihara. "We are now in a state of tension far more dangerous than during the Cold War period when the United States and the former Soviet Union were at odds. If tensions mount between the United States and China, the two sides could pull the trigger on each other. Then the more the fire expands, the United States, which has a civil society that highly values human life, would not be able to win," stated Ishihara.

"We believe Japan is being protected under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, but it is a very unreliable treaty," he said.

"If China were to fire a nuclear weapon with the aim of blasting the Japan-U.S. security program, the target will likely be either Tokyo or Okinawa. I want my friends in the United States to know that such a circumstance is becoming real."