![]() Yu Qiangsheng, an elder brother of Yu Zhengsheng, former Politburo Standing Committee member and Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, defected to the US in 1985. READ: Commentary: Removal of rising political star reveals murky nature of Chinese elite politicsĮven within the Ministry of State Security, China’s counter-intelligence apparatus, there have been cases of officials passing information to foreign countries, to the point where Hu Jintao had to intervene personally in 2012.Ĭhina has also witnessed defections in the past though these seem few and far in between. And so it can be challenging to piece together the puzzle of how big the problem is.īut what we know is in more recent years is these include former Chinese ambassador to South Korea Li Bin in 2006 who was thought to have passed state secrets to Seoul and the former head of China’s nuclear power programme Kang Rixin in 2010 suspected of spiling nuclear secrets to an undisclosed foreign nation.īoth were found guilty of corruption with details of their cases kept under wraps. Such cases are usually kept deliberately low profile and quiet, given the humiliation not to mention national security considerations China may have in concealing how much it knows. ![]() Many high-ranking Chinese officials have been caught in the shadowy world of intelligence agencies engaging in human intelligence operations including espionage, defections and penetration of government organisations. If true, Dong’s defection could prove devastating for China’s interests and the personal security of President Xi.Īs the head of Hebei Provincial State Security Department from February 2006 to March 2017, Dong reportedly recruited bodyguards for the central leadership in general and President Xi in particular. Some conservative sites even suggest Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan for Dong to be repatriated to China during the Anchorage talks. There is talk among US and Australian media outlets he is the source of the Wuhan lab leak theory, which explains in part the US’ renewed confidence in the idea despite not presenting any new, overt evidence. The meeting is even more curious because of reported rumours that Dong, a current office holder, had already surrendered himself to US Defense Intelligence Agency under the pretext of visiting his daughter in the country in February. READ: Commentary: The changing meaning of political legitimacy for the Chinese Communist Party However, unlike most official events covered by the mainstream Chinese media, there was scant details of the meeting – with no video or photo of the proceedings or mention of its location. The meeting apparently emphasised the importance of not only capturing foreign spies but also their Chinese collaborators and financiers behind the scenes. On that same day as the demonstration of loyalty, Dong was reported to have separately chaired a meeting to discuss implementing new counter-espionage regulations that came into effect in April. While those suspicions regarding Wang have been smashed, there are growing concerns over Dong Jingwei, vice-minister for state security, the latest official to have come under the spotlight for supposedly defecting. READ: Commentary: US must give up on containing China when accommodation is unavoidable The last being Lin Biao - then heir apparent to Mao Zedong who was said to be fleeing China for the Soviet Union, after a failed assassination attempt on his mentor’s life when his plane crashed in 1971. Had it been true, Wang would have been the highest-ranking official to defect in recent decades. ![]() ![]() WELLINGTON: The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) centennial anniversary celebrations may have made headlines last week.īut amid the celebratory notes of how the country has arrived and how much the party has been pivotal to that narrative, observers reading the tea leaves to discern what big challenges lie ahead for the country may do well to look at certain, less well covered developments in the lead-up.įor while Chinese President and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping’s leading of top Chinese communist leaders to renew their pledges of loyalty to the party on Jun 18 looked right at home, the ceremony was significant because it included Vice-president Wang Qishan, who had been widely rumoured to have fled China. ![]()
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