The document outlines the extensive espionage operations by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) targeting overseas Chinese communities, particularly in the U.S., leveraging various organizations for influence and intelligence gathering. It details a structured approach involving student groups, local businesses, and media to control narratives and mobilize support while suppressing dissent. The CCP's methods include intimidation, economic espionage, and the utilization of consulates and community organizations to manipulate perceptions and govern overseas Chinese populations.

1. Cyber and Beyond
The Inner Workings of Chinese Espionage
Overt Structure & Operations
Joshua Philipp
National Security Reporter
Epoch Times
joshua.philipp@epochtimes.com

2. A Surface Look
“China has had a long reach into the
Chinese community in the United States for
quite some time, and frequently uses this
community for espionage, both within the
community itself and against American
companies, the military and the technology
and political spheres.”
● Chinese Consulate involvement
● Local businesses
● Social organizations
● Chinese student groups
● Chinese media
● Highly organized
● Participants paid cash

3. Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party
United Front
Department (UFD)
State Council
Overseas Chinese
Affairs Office (OCAO)
Consulates &
Embassies
Tongs & Hometown
Associations
Chinese Student and
Scholar Associations (CSSA)
Triads & Street Gangs
Overt Espionage Structure

4. Overall Goals
● Create “united front” of Chinese in foreign countries
● Gain governance of overseas Chinese communities
● Push CCP narrative, while suppressing others
● Alter perceptions and allegiances
● Using indirect systems to pressure or influence government and
media, in order to affect US policy on China
● Mobilize front groups for political purposes, create pressure or
support where needed, use this for propaganda inside and outside
China
● Recruit or plant foreign agents and insiders

5. Overseas Governance
"Control of the Chinese community is the
CCP's consistent foreign policy. It has been
a 'painstaking effort' over the past decades,
and has a certain scale. It is a pyramid-like
structure and system. They manipulate
Chinese people in the name of 'unite
overseas Chinese.' "
- Chen Yonglin
● Used Chinese students as special agents
● Control overseas Chinese media, provide
financial support using advertisements from
Chinese companies
● Pressure western politicians if they help
Chinese dissidents, keep records of
politicians which can impact ability to travel
to China
Leaked documents from the Chinese Consulate
in Sydney, provided to Epoch Times in 2007 by
former Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin.

6. Overseas Chinese Affairs Office
● Helps manage systems of overseas
governance, with Consulates / Embassies
functioning like city governments
● Helps build strategies and narrative
●
Target Chinese immigrants, 2nd
and 3rd
generation Chinese, and Chinese
immigrants with wealth or specialized skills
● Monitor and build databases on Chinese
immigrants
● Assist embassies and consulates with PR
efforts to Chinese community
● Build relations with Chinese immigrants
running media, cultural organizations, and
Chinese schools; and support their work.
“The target of overseas
Chinese Affairs is Chinese
who are living overseas
and those who were
nationalized as foreign
nationals.”
- Jiang Zemin

7. United Front Department
(formerly called the “United Front Work Department”)
● Expand the governance of the
Chinese Communist Party into
overseas Chinese communities
● Approach Tongs / hometown
associations and sway allegiances,
offer incentives
● Offer incentives to change
allegiances
● Target community leaders, business
elite, people with power
“The united front, the armed
struggle, and party building are
the three magic weapons of the
Chinese Communist Party to
defeat enemies in the Chinese
revolution.
- Mao Zedong, October 4, 1939,
first edition of “The Communists”
“Party committees at every
level should include the united
front in their agenda.”
- Deng Xiaoping, August 15, 1979,
14th national conference on united
front work

8. Political Influence
Rose Pak
● “De facto head” of San Francisco's
Chinese Chamber of Commerce
● An overseas director of the China
Overseas Exchange Association
(COEA), which is directly under the
Overseas Chinese Affairs Office
● Allegations she controls local elections
on behalf of moneyed mainland
Chinese interests.
“COEA’s leadership is composed
entirely of Chinese Communist Party
officials representing various foreign
affairs and 'overseas propaganda'
agencies of the Chinese government.”

9. Harassment & Surveillance
“Chinese operatives
and consular officials
are actively engaged
in the surveillance
and harassment of
Chinese dissident
groups on U.S. soil.”

10. Pressuring to Spy
Mr. Qurban said Chinese agents detained
him in China, pressured him to send reports
on Uyghurs in Canada to Chinese
operatives living there.
“They said, ‘People like you are our
enemies. We will wipe you out for sure.’”
“They said, ‘We have special people there.
All you have to do is give the information to
them.’”
Source: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/canadian-04242015121248.html

11. Silencing Unwanted Voices
“They said they can make me disappear ...
It’s very common knowledge. If you speak
about the Chinese Communist Party, even
among co-workers, they’ll tell you to watch
what you say.”
- Judy Chen, 55, Taiwanese immigrant living
in Flushing, Queens
“All the Chinese people know it.”
(Paraphrasing) On the local level, the
Chinese regime often uses its influence
over Chinese community organizations and
student groups to carry out its work.
- Tang Baiqiao, founder of Democracy
Academy of China

12. “Each of these programs looks to
foreign collaboration and technologies
to cover key gaps.”
They encourage Western-trained
experts to help the CCP's technological
development by returning to China or
by “serving in place.”
- “China’s Industrial Espionage: Technology
Acquisition and Military Modernization”
(Book), by William C. Hannas, James
Mulvenon, and Anna B. Puglisi
Programs for Economic Theft
Official Programs Include:
● Project 863
● Torch Program
● 973 Program
● 211 Program

13. Economic Theft
“China's National Technology Transfer Centers”
aka “National Demonstration Centers”
“ We are talking here of an elaborate,
comprehensive system for spotting
foreign technologies, acquiring them by
every means imaginable, and
converting them into weapons and
competitive goods.”
- “China’s Industrial Espionage: Technology
Acquisition and Military Modernization”
(Book), by William C. Hannas, James
Mulvenon, and Anna B. Puglisi
● 202 centers work as “models for
emulation by other transfer facilities.”
These Include:
● Science and Technology Office under
the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office
● State Administration of Foreign Experts
Affairs under the State Council
● National Technology Transfer Center
under the East China University of
Science and Technology

14. The Tongs
● Not all bad
● Varying allegiances
● Many with very large memberships
(some claim hundreds of thousands)
● Some associated with Triads and street
gangs, with varying allegiances
● The United Front Department targets
them for their influence in Chinese
● After targeted, they act on behalf of the
Chinese Communist Party
● Mobilized along with members for
political or ideological purposes
● Use influence to control Chinese
communities
● Use influence to affect foreign politics,
law enforcement, and news coverage
● Highly useful for finding insiders in
targeted industries

15. Tongs Working With Overseas
Chinese Affairs Office
Case found guilty, and sentenced Xing Wu
(Oliver) Pan & Jenny Hou for crimes
including attempted wire fraud in John Liu's
(former NYC comptroller) campaign.
● Xing Wu (Oliver) Pan, executive vice
director of the Fukien American Association,
and the United Fujianese American
Association
● Jenny Hou's father is Hou Jianli, president
of the Beijing Township Association
● Met with then-vice president of the
Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Xu
Yousheng, during 2007 trip to China,
escorted by tong leaders including Hou
Jianli.

16. Triads & Street Gangs
“Once that organization, the Fukien
American Association, became one of the
leading [China]-supported organizations,
they became the host of almost all these
Chinese officials who are visiting New York.”
- Ko-lin Chin, Professor, Rutgers School of
Criminal Justice, interview with Epoch Times
“The Fuk Ching, for example, are affiliated
with the Fukien American Association ...
They allow the gang to operate on their (the
tong’s) territory, thus legitimizing them with
the community.”
- “Chinese Transnational Organized Crime: The
Fuk Ching,” by James O. Finckenauer, Ph.D.,
International Center, National Institute of Justice
● Used for strong-arm tactics
● Used when violence is needed
● Valuable for smuggling channels
● Drug warfare, culture warfare, etc

17. The Triads in Action
“The Chinese Communist Party ...
has teamed up with a notorious
triad figure to help press its claims
in Taiwan.”
● Chang An-lo aka “White Wolf”
● Convicted kidnapper, extortionist,
and heroin trafficker
● Mobilizes aggressive protests to
intimidate pro-democracy activists
in Taiwan

18. The Triads in Action
“This is one of the tactics used by the
communists in mainland China from
time to time. They use triads or pro-
government mobs to try to attack you
so the government will not have to
assume responsibility.”
- Albert Ho, pro-democracy lawmaker
● Attacks on pro-democracy protesters
● Triads involved
● Rumors of Chinese Communist Party
orchestrating

19. Chinese Student and Scholar
Associations (CSSA)
“The Consulate provides funding and
resources to each CSSA, which
amounts to tremendous assistance, for
this resolves all financial worries the
student organization might otherwise
have.”
– Blog by Chinese student in Canada, “Current
situation and development of Chinese Student
Association in Canadian Universities”, study in
Canada blog (Accessed July 19, 2007)
“The vast majority of CSSAs receive
funding from the Chinese government
or have an active liaison via the
consulate back to the CCP.”
– ICIT report
● Students mobilized for political or
ideological purposes
● Act on behalf of the CCP within their
universities
● Students groomed as spies in targeted
positions, such as specific industries,
government jobs, or government
internships

20. The System at Work ...
“China is building large covert spy
networks inside Australia's leading
universities, prompting Australia to
strengthen its counter-intelligence
capabilities.”
● CCP building covert spy networks
in Australia's leading universities
● Spying on ethnic Chinese
● Censoring information unfavorable
to the Chinese Communist Party

21. Key Takeaways
● The CCP is taking advantage of the open system of the United
States
● The CCP views overseas Chinese and their communities as
part of China. This includes 2nd
and 3rd
generation immigrants
● Active intimidation in Chinese communities, which creates
perception Chinese communities of being monitored and at risk
– don't feel protection of US government
● Use of controlled overseas groups for political or ideological
mobilization – protests appear spontaneous, but being
orchestrated
● Efforts to influence US politics

22. Select Sources
– https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/terrorism_weekly_april_16
– http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/15/asia-pacific/politics-diploAmacy-asia-pacific/masked-thugs-hong-kong-rallies-revive-citys-triad-reputation/
– http://www.smh.com.au/national/chinese-spies-keep-eye-on-leading-universities-20140420-36yww.htm
– http://www.upholdjustice.org/node/181
– http://www.edu.cn/xiang_guan_lian_jie/zheng_fu/gwy_qiao_wu_ban.htm
– http://xcb.cumt.edu.cn/kddj/tzgz/ql/ldzs/_index.htm
– http://www.zytzb.org.cn/zytzbwz/theory/lilun/80200212170099.htm
– http://xcb.cumt.edu.cn/kddj/tzgz/ql/ldzs/_index.htm
– http://www.ynzxb.cn/2006/11-21/09331683794.htm
– http://www.tongxin.org/j-sys-news/page/2003/618/1674_552.shtml
– http://icitech.org/icit-brief-chinas-espionage-dynasty-economic-death-by-a-thousand-cuts/
– http://chinascope.org/main/content/view/4838/104/
– http://www.zytzb.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/tzb2010/S1815/201209/731224.html
– http://chinascope.org/main/content/view/2754/104/
– http://www.chinanews.com.cn/zgqj/2010/06-29/2370881.shtml
– http://www.upholdjustice.org/node/252#report252_4
– https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Industrial-Espionage-Acquisition-Modernisation/dp/0415821428
– http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1737917-investigative-report-china-theft-incorporated/
– http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/790894-chinese-expats-monitored-harassed-in-nyc/
– https://www.usnwc.edu/Departments---Colleges/Center-for-Naval-Warfare-Studies/Warfare-Analysis-and-Research/Readings-and-Refences/U-S--China-Economic-and-Security-
Review-Commision.aspx
– https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/218463.pdf
– http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/254901-in-backing-disgraced-treasurer-john-liu-sticks-close-to-beijing/
– http://dailysignal.com/2015/04/13/columbia-shut-down-student-group-known-to-be-beijing-front-group-what-does-that-mean/
– http://www.upholdjustice.org/node/172
– http://www.smh.com.au/world/chinas-rulers-team-up-with-notorious-white-wolf-of-taiwan-20140711-zt488.html
– http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2016/06/09/beijing-hidden-influence-san-francisco/

23. The Inner Workings of Chinese Espionage
Overt Structure & Operations
Questions / Feedback
Joshua Philipp
joshua.philipp@epochtimes.com
Cyber and Beyond