Russia gets America’s attention but Chinese intelligence gets America’s secrets.
A new criminal case shows that Chinese intelligence penetrated the CIA via two former CIA officers.
One was Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, who went from being a CIA spy to MSS informant.
According to court documents, Ma began working for the CIA in 1982, maintained a Top Secret clearance, and signed numerous non-disclosure agreements in which he acknowledged his responsibility and ongoing duty to protect U.S. government secrets during his tenure at CIA. Ma left the CIA in 1989 and lived and worked in Shanghai, China before arriving in Hawaii in 2001.
According to court documents, Ma and his relative (identified as co-conspirator #1) conspired with each other and multiple PRC intelligence officials to communicate classified national defense information over the course of a decade. The scheme began with three days of meetings in Hong Kong in March 2001 during which the two former CIA officers provided information to the foreign intelligence service about the CIA’s personnel, operations, and methods of concealing communications.
Source: Former CIA Officer Arrested and Charged with Espionage | OPA | Department of Justice
