The Missing Pieces of the Story of the Chinese American Spies Who Were Born in Rome

The Beijing media wrote that Zeng was “indoctrinated” in Italy by “Western values” by Seth with dinners, excursions, excursions, and promises of money. But the story has some dark sides, starting with the time frame in which it took place

With “dinners, outings, and trips to work”, Zheng would end up in a state of psychological submission that Seth exploited to “indoctrinate” him into “Western values” that also promised him “a massive amount of money and help for his family emigrating to the United States”. Zeng would be a person born in July 1971, who was sent by his company – an important Mandarin military industrial group – to study in Italy. On the other hand, Seth will be a CIA official, a diplomat at the US Embassy in Rome. It was alleged that the two signed an espionage deal and Zeng received special training before returning to China. Then, during “multiple secret meetings,” Zeng allegedly provided the CIA with “a large amount of background information” on China’s armed forces.

What I read is the copy of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, which is fed by the regime’s media. In the statement released, the Chinese ministry warned other Chinese nationals living or traveling abroad of the “risks and dangers” of recruitment by Western intelligence agencies. From the United States, no comment or statement on this matter.

However, the outlines are still fuzzy. Many questions about the story, starting with when. In fact, there are no details about the time frame in which Zeng would have been recruited, would have been spying, and would have been arrested.

Dennis WilderAl., a former CIA official and expert on China, mentioned Al financial times that Beijing had captured two CIA agents in the country in the 1950s, which was later revealed. He added that it was unclear whether the current case occurred recently or was made public now, suggesting that the announcement may be related to the conviction of the American sailors and their alleged Chinese handler. And let’s not forget the recent sparks between Washington and Beijing after that William Burns He has stated publicly that the CIA, which he leads, has “made progress” in rebuilding the network of informants in China. “Christopher RayHe, director of the FBI, has spoken out about the threat of Chinese intelligence services,” Wilder said. Perhaps Beijing wanted to show that espionage goes both ways and that the United States has no moral advantage in this case.

Finally, other question marks remain. Perhaps Beijing wanted to send a message to its citizens, Washington and beyond by showing that everyone is spying. But it may also have exposed some of its weaknesses, which have less to do with Zeng’s recruitment than with the inability of Chinese intelligence to exploit an individual to his advantage once identified.