CONNECTICUT—Recently, an Epoch Times reporter contacted current and former Chinese students, scholars and professors at Yale University, and learned of the Chinese embassy and consulates' infiltration of overseas Chinese organizations and groups. The revelations include "self confessions" from former Chinese consulate staff and people carrying special responsibilities.
Let Them Fight Each Other in the Dark
Dr. Zhang Yuming was once a visiting professor at Yale University. He said that two years ago, an acquaintance of his working in the Chinese consulate disclosed much "internal" information to him. Dr. Zhang said, "The Chinese consulate has placed people inside all student associations, Chinese churches, Chinese newspapers, Chinese communities, democratic organizations and Falun Gong groups around New York. Their responsibilities are to gather information, propagandize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s ideology and sow discord."
Dr. Zhang is not willing to disclose the name of his acquaintance, but the person also said that an important role the CCP spies play in overseas Chinese groups is to stir up internal conflicts among these groups. In his own words, the plan is to "win over the majority, attack the minority, turn off the light and let them fight each other in the dark."
The Chinese consulate holds regular meetings to discuss overseas Chinese that they are concerned about one by one. The list includes Dr. Zhang himself, who was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for his belief in Christianity. The people they dispatched to student associations among other groups are required to report to the consulate once a month. The acquaintance told Dr. Zhang that the Chinese consulate knows his situation very well. He is classified as the kind they should try to win over since, though he hates the CCP's past extreme leftist path, he is patriotic after all.
Spies Simply Admit Their Roles When Identified
Dr. Zhang ran into some spies when he attended church activities. Once in a church activity in New Jersey, a Mr. Ma, around 50 or 60 years old, chatted with Dr. Zhang and said he was Zhang's fellow townsman from Hebei. He claimed that he joined the CCP with Liu Keping, a partisan of the "Gang of Four." Dr. Zhang recognized that he was not a genuine Christian, so Ma admitted it and said that he was just there to check the situation and report it to the Chinese consulate.
Mr. Wang (alias) opened a pub in New Haven, where Yale University is located. He is a CCP member, but he was baptized and became a deacon in a local church. He was responsible for managing money. After being exposed by Dr. Zhang, he also admitted to not really being religious. Dr. Zhang asked minister Zhao (alias), who had recommended Wang for deaconship, and why he would allow the man to be baptized and take up such an important position in the church when he knew that Wang was a CCP member. To Zhang's surprise, Zhao said, "So what? I am a CCP member myself!"
Indeed, Zhao came from a family of senior cadres and was sent abroad by the CCP. Later he graduated from Yale Divinity School, and got promoted higher and higher in the church district. He often traveled back to China and had many connections with both the church controlled by the CCP and the underground church in China. He published articles in various influential Christian publications and appeared to be a normal Christian when judged from his words. However, he was transferred out of the Yale church district one month after his slip of the tongue to Dr. Zhang.
To the Fore at Critical Moments
Dr. Zhang said that the CCP is most adept at spy activities and creating chaos in groups it has infiltrated. The CCP's spy chief Zhou Enlai once taught his subordinates to not reveal their true colors, but try to appear as the same as those around them. The most destructive spies often appear to be the most active in these groups, but some of their actions and words make others feel uneasy. They lie low for a long time, and then make themselves useful at critical moments.
Wang Hao, an undergraduate at Yale University who graduates this year, often writes articles about politics. He has written many criticizing the human rights situation in China but has not experienced any unexpected incidents. Yet things changed in February 2006 when he published an article about the book The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. (The Nine Commentaries). He was surprisingly confronted by Zhang Li, a member of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA). He then submitted his own article to the campus journal to defend the CCP saying the Nine Commentaries and the action of withdrawing from the Party are merely propaganda by The Epoch Times .
Lu Yanping, a postdoc at Yale, said, "The elections of the CSSA committee members usually doesn't attract much attention or many votes. Oftentimes, the CSSA committee members just inherit their positions year by year. A few years ago when I declared to run a campaign for the presidency, some student members were very nervous because they knew I practiced Falun Gong. I used to be the chairman of the CSSA at Albert Einstein Medical College. So they went there to investigate me but they found nothing because of my good reputation. A candidate who was already serving on the CSSA committee, together with a few other students went to labs one by one, saying that 'Falun Gong will take over the CSSA committee so we can never vote for her.' As a result, more than two hundred people suddenly showed up on the voting day and I lost the election."
From Sending Spies to Developing Secret Agents
Lu Yanping served as the chairman of CSSA at Albert Einstein Medical College from 1997 to 1998. She said she didn't realize the Chinese consulates were making use of her. Now when she recalls, she feels she was naive and so were the other students. "At that time, we took some money from the consulate, not much, just a little over three hundreds dollars. But we went to the consulate many times to socialize, drink and have meals."
"When Jiang Zemin visited the U.S., the consulate organized students to welcome him. We went and everyone was given food. At that time, I felt that was something a Chinese would do."
"Once, the consulate wanted me to collect information on all the students and scholars to compile a list. At first I felt this was a good idea because people could get to know and help each other. Later, I felt more and more uneasy. When I think about it now, I realize that was actually spying."
Kang Zhenguo, a lecturer in the Department of East Languages & Civilizations at Yale, once taught at Xian Jiaotong University, China. He recalled that when he taught the course The Contemporary Western Art Trend, "The students in the class were key players in the Party and Youth League. They were regarded as the next-generation leaders. Two of them got along well with me. They told me they would be sent overseas to study. But they had to report to the Party regularly about what was going on among the local Chinese. Later, I heard one of them was sent to the U.S. and the other was sent to Britain."
Mr. Li, another postdoc from Yale, met a young woman in Japan when he worked for a research institute in 2003. She was a student at Waseda University but had a rich lifestyle, which was clearly different from other students. She invited Mr. Li to join her social circle. She even gave him a printer but Mr. Li found something strange inside, which could be an eavesdropping device.
Mr. Li worked at Kangwon National University, South Korea in 1998. Over there, there was a semi-underground CCP organization, which recruited new members. He was asked to join. This organization later turned into a spy club. Mr. Li observed that the CCP was not only sending spies overseas but also developing many agents overseas who willingly or unknowingly work for it.
The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind
Doctor Zhang suggests that U.S. secret agencies likely track all the Party members who have entered the United States. "A professor from the Law Department once told me that Chinese, in the immigration process, have to answer whether they belong to the Party or its organizations. Usually, people just check "no" and can pass. But Americans are not that easily deceived. They know who the Party members are. This is evidence of their lies for which they can be expatriated at anytime."
Dr. Zhang said, "The FBI also has all the information on those who are possibly CCP spies. The FBI is watching them. What's the point of working for the CCP? An old friend who works at the consulate said very honestly, 'nowadays, who believes in communism? That is just a utopia. We all know the CCP's propaganda is cheating us.'"
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