The Everyman Spy: The New Yellow Peril
August 19, 2005
A large-scale initiative by the FBI and the Justice Department is currently underway involving hundreds of agents in 56 field offices.
And the target? Why, it’s Chinese spies, foreign nationals and Asian Americans at technology firms mostly in California, companies that deal in commercial and military applications highly desired by the Chinese. They’re looking at big companies like Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Transmeta Corp. And lesser known companies like Santa Clara’s 3DGeo and Night Vision Technology in San Jose. Some cases of espionage are even going to trail later this year. If you’re Chinese American and working in the technology field, I just thought you should know. They’re watching you. All this comes from the front pages of the international newspaper of commerce, The Wall Street Journal in a thoroughly reported article by Jay Solomon Aug. 10. The Journal has a right-wing opinion page. But its reporting is solid, for the most part. The article has just enough skepticism from business sources, and includes one Asian American activist, Fremont’s Cecilia Chang, to make the article fair. But just barely. The flavor of the article is apparent in the opening in the lead graphs. The FBI is the dominant voice. All the rest is just window dressing. But what gives away the bias is the headline “Phantom Menace: FBI Sees Big Threat From Chinese Spies; Businesses Wonder”The sub-heads fill out the tale: “Bureau Adds Manpower, Builds Technology Theft Cases; Charges of Racial Profiling. Mixed Feelings at 3DGeo.”
Nice summary of the article. But “Phantom Menace”? It’s not exactly “Yellow Peril,” but it comes perilously close. It’s closer still to that other well-known phrase, “Red Menace.”
Any nostalgic Cold Warriors out there? The Journal is here to help you feel the chill. The article begins with a quote from David Szady, 61, assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence dvision. But also known as a top “Soviet spy catcher,” a guy who knew every Kremlin mole. So when he says boo, we’re supposed to listen. “China is the biggest [espionage] threat to the U.S. today,” Szady told The Journal. What makes them the biggest threat is that there are so many Chinese students and businessmen in the U.S. The article mentions that there are many here very innocently. But that’s not going to stop some people from engaging in some industrial strength racial profiling. Szady adds fuel to the fire when he says: “[The Chinese] can work on so many levels that China may prove more difficult to contain than the Russia threat,” he told The Journal. In other words, the Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming! It would have been shorter to say, “BOO!”
Of course, there’s enough to counter Szady, like the fact that the government is unable to prove many of its espionage cases. But that’s buried deep in the piece. The headline scream is all that’s necessary. And then there’s the graph that accompanies the piece right on the front page. It shows the number of overseas visitors from China, and how it’s grown over the years to more than 800,000 a year. “Experts say the Chinese government sometimes gathers intelligence by interviewing Chinese travelers,” says the charts accompanying chatter. 800,000 potential spies?!? Why that’s a major national security hole! After the failed CNOOC oil deal to buy Unocal, rejected in part by Washington’s fear over Chinese national security, it’s not surprising to see stories surface to buttress the current Sinophobia. What’s strange is that while the stories spread of fearing the Chinese, U.S. companies are in China playing friendly capitalist. We’re not ideological competitors, really. We’re just competitors in a confused world driven by money and profit. And where are Asian Americans in all this? In the middle, naturally. To the Chinese, Asian Americans are potential allies. “They’re all overseas Chinese,” said Szady to The Journal. To the FBI, Asian Americans are looked at with suspicion. The Journal reports two employees in Los Angeles were brought to trial for aiding Beijing. One case was thrown out, the other is pending. Szady is quoted as saying he’s “trying to find a balance” between being vigilant and overbearing. Balance? I wouldn’t count on it. Not when there are already agents out in the field watching those of you in the hi-tech world. Think you’re above suspicion, you innocent Asian American, you? Paul Moore, the FBI’s top China analysts closes the article saying that it’s the informal conversations between China and all the overseas travelers, friends, students and workers, that represent the biggest holes. “It’s the mundane, day-to-day contacts that are killing us, not the exotic spy operations,” Moore is reported to have said. It’ the emergence of the Everyman Spy. Forget James Bond. It’s Bob Lee. Bill Chang. Lincoln Woo. Name a regular Joe. Joe Joe. For Asian Americans, it heralds the new era of racial profiling. Guilty until proven innocent. Reach Emil at emil@amok.com.
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