WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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In early 2012, Chang’an Avenue was filled with tension

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Everyone’s attention

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was tightly seized by the political tsunami of Wang Lijun’s nighttime flight and Bo Xilai’s downfall

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But very few people knew

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that while people across the country were moving their stools

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to watch this high-level “palace drama”

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in the unseen deep waters of Zhongnanhai

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a storm was rising

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the largest counterintelligence purge

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Within just two years, more than 30 deeply embedded operatives in China’s military core

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core Party and government organs

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and even the very heart of the Ministry of State Security

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CIA senior informants

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were precisely identified and then vanished without a trace

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The New York Times’ major exposé and Foreign Policy’s in-depth investigation

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cross-confirmed this extremely cold outcome

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The U.S. intelligence community spent tens of billions of dollars

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painstakingly built over 10 years

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the China spy network was uprooted

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About this heart-pounding covert war behind the red walls

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because it involves too much information

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many creators rely on a few second-hand pulp articles to speculate

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making it look like a 007 movie

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But real top-level rivalry

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is never that black-and-white

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To completely peel back this layer of fog

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the Gousheng team dug into the most critical foreign intelligence archives of the past decade

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from code-tracing reports of a top University of Toronto think tank

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all the way to heavily redacted original FBI indictments

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In this episode, we remove all fluff

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and rely only on the most hardcore cross-verified sources

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to reconstruct the most professional and shocking real great-power spy war online

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Today Gousheng will take you to break open this red wall

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and completely dissect this century-scale purge

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People always think intelligence wars between great powers

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must be like in 007 movies

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with flawless plans and perfect execution

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But when we peel back this façade with real records

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you’ll find there’s nothing mysterious

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When you truly see through this cold state machine

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you’ll realize the world itself

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is just a giant makeshift operation

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Now let’s return to China in 2000

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To understand how the CIA lost everything

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you must first understand how they once dominated

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In the intelligence world, China, Russia, and North Korea

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have long been classified as top-level denial zones

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with dense surveillance and strict control

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foreign movement is heavily restricted

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trying traditional 007-style espionage in China is extremely difficult

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After the Soviet collapse, the CIA’s focus shifted east

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By the early 21st century, China became the top priority

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But China was not the Soviet Union

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During the Cold War, the CIA relied on ideology

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Look how brutal your Gulags are

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Come see the beacon of the free world

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Many KGB defectors carried a tragic pursuit of freedom

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In the early 21st century after joining the WTO, China entered a boom era

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and also an era of rampant corruption and rent-seeking

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By then ideology had already been replaced by money

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What lubricated this massive machine

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was not ideology but real cash

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Buying and selling positions

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was not a secret in the system

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but a semi-open hidden rule

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In the military, local governments, and core ministries

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there were clear price tags

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for promotions

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or which superior to bribe

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insiders all knew

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For example, during Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong’s era

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everything had a price

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There was even a saying

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millions buy division posts, tens of millions buy army posts

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In this system

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if you didn’t bribe

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you were seen as an outlier

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a ticking time bomb

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and would be sidelined for life

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Facing such systemic decay

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CIA analysts came up with an idea

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They decided

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to pay promotion bribes for recruited agents

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Yes, you heard that right

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In intelligence theory

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there is a model called MICE

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Money, ideology

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coercion, ego

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Facing these bureaucrats

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the CIA understood the logic

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You want promotion, you want into the PLA General Staff

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you want into core think tanks

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no problem

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If you can’t pay the 2 million RMB bribe

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the CIA will pay it

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According to Zach Dorfman

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who interviewed over 30

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former US intelligence officials

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the CIA saw this as long-term investment

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A senior counterintelligence official said

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The CIA also took care of these officials’ worries

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Arranging overseas accounts for their wives

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and covering tuition and living expenses for their children to attend Ivy League schools in Boston

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According to The New York Times, senior-level informants could earn up to $1 million a year

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This was both extremely generous compensation

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and an irreversible pledge of loyalty

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Once you take U.S. money to buy your position

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and your son is driving a sports car in Los Angeles

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do you think you can ever get off this pirate ship

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Of course, the CIA isn’t stupid

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They rarely recruit domestically

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If they can’t reach you inside China, they wait until you go abroad

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Chinese military officers travel to Djibouti, scientists attend conferences in Europe, officials visit the U.S.

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Once outside the country and beyond the system’s protection, it becomes the CIA’s home field

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The CIA even created an internal “Belt and Road” heat map

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Wherever Chinese officials go, the CIA’s methods follow

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Around 2010, this dollar-fueled corruption strategy

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brought the CIA’s spy network in China to its absolute historical peak

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According to four former U.S. officials speaking to The New York Times

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the quality of high-level intelligence on China was the best in years

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CIA informants were deeply embedded in the PLA’s core command system

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key departments of the Communist Party

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and even infiltrated the Ministry of State Security itself

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It was the golden age of U.S. intelligence

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Meetings held yesterday in Zhongnanhai, leadership intentions, military deployments

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even personnel planning for the 18th Party Congress

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could become top-secret briefings within days

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and be placed on Obama’s Oval Office desk

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Secretary Obama, we may need to approve more funding for China this time

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The other side is asking for quite a lot because the position is reportedly very high

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But we’ve already selected a reliable candidate

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and he himself is also willing to contribute a bit

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Alright, but this amount

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the position offered must be worth it

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Show me the list of candidates from yesterday’s internal meeting

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It’s already on your desk, General Secretary

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Are you sure it’s correct

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Yes, it is

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The secretary submitted these names from yesterday’s nominations

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Is this the one

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You mean our next General Secretary

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After internal high-level discussions

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we nominated someone named Donald Trump

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He’s from northern Shaanxi, from a poor peasant family for three generations

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and his father joined the Communist Party with Chairman Mao

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Uh, I think I’ve heard of someone like that

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Do you think I’m an idiot

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Get out and find out

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which idiot got into yesterday’s meeting

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Time moves to the second half of 2010, when the winds shifted in Zhongnanhai

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Senior officials in China’s Ministry of State Security began to sense a dangerous chill

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Through surveillance and reviews of diplomatic interactions with the U.S.

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they found that the Americans in major bilateral negotiations

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high-tech export controls and even military decisions toward China

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showed an eerie level of foresight

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That precise grasp of China’s strategic cards

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could not be achieved by satellites or intercepted emails

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or a few low-level communications

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Only those sitting in the meeting room

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or those with access to internal briefings

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could understand things so thoroughly

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At the same time, China’s own intelligence network in the U.S.

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began to be precisely dismantled

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According to later cross-verified intelligence records

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the Americans not only knew what we were thinking

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they also knew who we had sent

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The conclusion was unavoidable

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there was a mole inside the Ministry of State Security and even the core system

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This massive and secretive counterintelligence machine

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immediately launched its highest-level internal investigation

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The fuse that would trigger the earthquake

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was finally ignited in early 2012

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According to Reuters’ exclusive report

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the MSS eventually locked onto a key target

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an administrative secretary

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to then Vice Minister Lu Zhongwei

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Lu Zhongwei was a typical scholar-type intelligence official

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who long oversaw the ministry’s core think tank

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the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

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which provided top-level strategic reports to the Politburo

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The vice minister himself may have been cautious

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but his close secretary had extremely high access

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He had access to large amounts of sensitive political, economic, and strategic intelligence

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including top-secret overseas counterintelligence operations

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Over several years

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this secretary continuously passed core secrets to the CIA

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directly leading to the exposure of multiple Chinese agents in the U.S.

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Once this was discovered, the news went straight to the top

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and shocked Beijing

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Already shaken by the Wang Lijun incident

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and leadership transition tensions

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at this critical moment, the anti-spy agency itself

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had been infiltrated like a sieve

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This was not just an intelligence failure

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but a political disaster of systemic collapse

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In an ordinary government department

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catching a corrupt official would be enough

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But in intelligence, when even a vice minister’s office has CIA eyes

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the most terrifying question arises

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Was this mole acting alone

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or part of a larger network

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who in this compound could still be trusted

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The arrest of the vice minister’s top secretary shattered all illusions among China’s leadership

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They realized the CIA’s dollar-driven venture strategy

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had already taken root too deeply

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Faced with such systemic decay

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the Ministry of State Security fell into extreme counterintelligence paranoia

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Traditional internal reviews were no longer sufficient

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and the system itself was not clean

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For example, the associate of Guo Wengui

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Ma Jian, then vice minister in charge of counterintelligence

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was busy using surveillance to collect blackmail material on senior officials

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while also helping Guo Wengui extort money from companies

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The leadership knew clearly that to deal with a deeply infiltrated CIA network

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relying solely on traditional surveillance and internal checks

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was not only inefficient but risked leaks at any time

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They had to bring in

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an absolutely clean external force with overwhelming technical advantage

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Thus the top leadership approved

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the creation of a high-level joint task force

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This task force

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included elite officers from the MSS Counterintelligence Bureau

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and also brought in China’s most secretive top cyber warfare unit

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the PLA General Staff Third Department, later part of the Strategic Support Force

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The Third Department is equivalent to China’s NSA

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gathering the country’s top hackers

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cryptographers and signals intelligence experts

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This cross-department operation

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fundamentally changed the nature of the counterintelligence war

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from traditional mole-hunting

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to a national-level cyber and signal tracking war

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The joint task force reasoned

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that with so many high-level officials recruited

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the CIA would not be exchanging intelligence on park benches

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To maintain such a large, high-frequency network

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the CIA must have a covert electronic communication system

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Once this system was found

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they could trace it and expose all the spies taking U.S. money

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Originally, finding such a system in the vast internet

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was like searching for a needle in a haystack

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But history played an absurd joke at this moment

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At the time, to communicate with Chinese informants

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CIA engineers

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developed an internet-based covert platform

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On the surface, these sites looked like normal news websites

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Agents would type into a seemingly ordinary search bar

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a specific code

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to trigger a hidden message window

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to communicate with handlers in Langley

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Sounds high-tech

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No no no

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This system had two outrageously basic flaws

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It was originally designed for the Middle East

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such as Iraq and Afghanistan

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where infrastructure was weak and conditions chaotic

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But the CIA bureaucrats, to save time and money

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copied the system directly into China

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a country with the world’s strictest internet surveillance

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At the time, CIA officers were overconfident

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Their words were: don’t worry, no one can touch us

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For security reasons, the CIA designed two systems

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a provisional system for new recruits under evaluation

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and a main system for vetted agents

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In theory, the two should be fully isolated

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However, the University of Toronto

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Citizen Lab, a digital security research group

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later found

00:11:49.033 --> 00:11:50.833
that the CIA’s contractors

00:11:50.833 --> 00:11:52.866
made a basic mistake

00:11:52.933 --> 00:11:54.300
the two systems

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were connected at the code level

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FBI and NSA later tested it and cursed

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oh boy

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the CIA completely botched the firewall

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Anyone accessing the outer system

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could trace directly into the main system

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It’s like building a billion-dollar bunker

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but installing a small plastic pet door

00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:16.733
and not even locking it

00:12:16.733 --> 00:12:21.333
Ironically, it wasn’t China but Iran who first found this flaw

00:12:21.333 --> 00:12:24.733
In 2009, Iranian intelligence

00:12:24.900 --> 00:12:27.133
obtained a CIA communication site

00:12:27.133 --> 00:12:29.033
Then Iranian cyber police did something

00:12:29.033 --> 00:12:32.066
anyone with basic computer knowledge could do

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They input HTML features, domain patterns

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and SSL fingerprints into Google

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Yes, Google

00:12:40.933 --> 00:12:42.433
They uncovered

00:12:42.433 --> 00:12:45.733
885 similar CIA front websites worldwide

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These sites covered 29 languages and 36 countries

00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:51.333
Even the shell companies behind them

00:12:51.333 --> 00:12:55.200
used lazy naming and sequential IP addresses

00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:58.900
some even linked back to CIA domains

00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:00.466
Citizen Lab researchers

00:13:00.466 --> 00:13:03.633
wrote in their report

00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.133
even a motivated amateur

00:13:06.166 --> 00:13:09.233
could map the entire CIA network

00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:10.933
U.S. intelligence officials believed

00:13:10.933 --> 00:13:13.500
that around 2009–2010

00:13:13.566 --> 00:13:15.733
Iran shared this method

00:13:15.733 --> 00:13:19.566
as a gift for the anti-U.S. united front, was generously shared with China’s Ministry of State Security

00:13:19.566 --> 00:13:20.700
Just imagine

00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:24.400
when MSS and PLA cyber warfare experts obtained this lead

00:13:24.400 --> 00:13:25.933
how ecstatic they must have been

00:13:25.933 --> 00:13:28.966
Once one person was confirmed as a CIA informant

00:13:28.966 --> 00:13:32.533
they could trace login IPs and retrieve broadband registration data

00:13:32.533 --> 00:13:36.833
lock the physical location and cross-check with surveillance cameras

00:13:36.833 --> 00:13:38.633
and pull out everyone in the network

00:13:38.633 --> 00:13:40.833
You build a multi-billion-dollar intelligence network

00:13:40.833 --> 00:13:44.033
and it gets taken down by a Google advanced search

00:13:44.033 --> 00:13:46.633
Arrogance is the deadliest poison in espionage

00:13:46.633 --> 00:13:50.533
Not only was the tech flawed, CIA tradecraft was sloppy

00:13:50.533 --> 00:13:54.400
According to former CIA officer Philip Giraldi

00:13:54.433 --> 00:13:56.133
some CIA handlers in Beijing

00:13:56.133 --> 00:13:58.900
met informants repeatedly in the same upscale restaurants

00:13:58.900 --> 00:14:03.066
CIA agents in Beijing followed the same routes to the same locations

00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:04.533
They seemed unaware

00:14:04.533 --> 00:14:06.366
that after the 2008 Olympics

00:14:06.366 --> 00:14:09.033
China’s surveillance system had been massively upgraded

00:14:09.033 --> 00:14:11.200
A U.S. diplomat repeatedly appearing

00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.333
in suspicious alleys

00:14:13.333 --> 00:14:15.933
was basically exposed under big data surveillance

00:14:15.933 --> 00:14:18.733
Giraldi pointed out the core issue

00:14:18.733 --> 00:14:19.933
the KPI system

00:14:19.933 --> 00:14:22.800
CIA promotions were based on numbers

00:14:22.800 --> 00:14:25.000
how many agents recruited, how many reports produced

00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:27.933
quality and security didn’t matter

00:14:27.933 --> 00:14:31.533
because by the time problems surfaced, you’d already been promoted

00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:35.233
With the technical breakthrough and mole list

00:14:35.233 --> 00:14:38.733
the purge began from late 2010 to 2012

00:14:38.733 --> 00:14:42.633
U.S. officials later described MSS operations as

00:14:42.633 --> 00:14:43.633
relentless

00:14:43.666 --> 00:14:44.966
They weren’t guessing

00:14:44.966 --> 00:14:49.400
they were always arresting the right people

00:14:49.466 --> 00:14:52.233
Once it started, the collapse was rapid

00:14:52.333 --> 00:14:55.733
The tactics were sophisticated, like peeling an onion

00:14:55.733 --> 00:14:58.433
They didn’t target top agents first

00:14:58.433 --> 00:15:00.966
but started with low-level operatives

00:15:00.966 --> 00:15:03.166
to verify intelligence methods

00:15:03.166 --> 00:15:06.333
After arrest, they conducted secret interrogations

00:15:06.333 --> 00:15:08.966
Early on, the CIA noticed some agents

00:15:08.966 --> 00:15:11.033
began sending seemingly reliable intelligence

00:15:11.033 --> 00:15:13.133
but with subtle inaccuracies

00:15:13.133 --> 00:15:16.700
This meant MSS had turned them into double agents

00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:20.933
forcing them to continue using the system to send false information

00:15:21.066 --> 00:15:22.900
This stabilized the CIA

00:15:22.900 --> 00:15:25.233
making them believe the network was still secure

00:15:25.233 --> 00:15:29.133
while MSS mapped CIA methods and preferences

00:15:29.133 --> 00:15:32.166
Each step confirmed added another piece

00:15:32.166 --> 00:15:35.033
until the network was fully mapped

00:15:35.033 --> 00:15:36.566
then MSS moved in

00:15:36.566 --> 00:15:38.700
The methods became extremely harsh

00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:41.900
The New York Times reported in 2017

00:15:41.900 --> 00:15:44.133
citing three former U.S. officials

00:15:44.133 --> 00:15:46.466
one shocking detail

00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:49.900
an exposed informant was executed publicly

00:15:49.900 --> 00:15:53.166
in front of colleagues as a warning

00:15:53.166 --> 00:15:56.300
Personally, I find this detail unreliable

00:15:56.300 --> 00:15:57.533
The New York Times

00:15:57.533 --> 00:16:00.533
this kind of cartel-style execution

00:16:00.533 --> 00:16:02.766
is extremely rare in China

00:16:02.766 --> 00:16:06.466
High-level espionage cases are handled secretly

00:16:06.466 --> 00:16:08.633
through closed trials

00:16:08.633 --> 00:16:10.733
and rarely result in execution

00:16:10.733 --> 00:16:14.466
even if executed, it’s done in designated locations

00:16:14.466 --> 00:16:16.066
This public execution

00:16:16.066 --> 00:16:18.333
was likely exaggerated

00:16:18.333 --> 00:16:21.366
by terrified U.S. officials

00:16:21.366 --> 00:16:24.033
watching agents disappear one by one

00:16:24.166 --> 00:16:27.333
or based on internal warnings

00:16:27.333 --> 00:16:29.466
used as deterrence

00:16:29.466 --> 00:16:32.233
But the core fact is undeniable

00:16:32.233 --> 00:16:34.566
According to Foreign Policy

00:16:34.566 --> 00:16:36.266
in less than two years

00:16:36.266 --> 00:16:40.333
around 30 CIA informants were executed or imprisoned

00:16:40.433 --> 00:16:41.700
During those dark days

00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:46.100
despair filled CIA headquarters in Langley

00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:48.366
meetings were interrupted by calls

00:16:48.366 --> 00:16:51.066
Sir, we lost another one in Beijing

00:16:51.233 --> 00:16:52.933
According to Foreign Policy

00:16:52.933 --> 00:16:54.066
at the final stage

00:16:54.066 --> 00:16:57.066
the last CIA officer still operating

00:16:57.100 --> 00:17:00.633
desperately handed out cash

00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:03.100
hoping agents could bribe their way out

00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:04.966
Some managed to escape

00:17:04.966 --> 00:17:08.733
but for most, it was too late

00:17:08.733 --> 00:17:12.866
U.S. intelligence on China collapsed

00:17:14.333 --> 00:17:15.466
They’re about to find me

00:17:15.466 --> 00:17:18.333
You’re our last informant, stay safe

00:17:18.333 --> 00:17:21.233
We will find you, we will get you out

00:17:21.266 --> 00:17:23.200
Hurry, they’re coming

00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.000
Sir, your delivery has arrived

00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:25.900
Leave it at the door

00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:29.733
Hello, are you Mr. Spy? We have a loan offer

00:17:29.733 --> 00:17:30.466
No

00:17:30.466 --> 00:17:32.133
Hello, are you buying a house

00:17:32.133 --> 00:17:33.666
No no

00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:37.133
Everyone can find me except you

00:17:37.133 --> 00:17:40.866
Wait, we’re still working on it

00:17:41.100 --> 00:17:42.533
We found you, wait for me

00:17:42.533 --> 00:17:46.366
No need to rescue me, they’ve already found me, take care of my family

00:18:06.466 --> 00:18:08.366
Decades of effort vanished overnight

00:18:08.366 --> 00:18:09.833
Washington had to find the cause

00:18:09.833 --> 00:18:15.066
The FBI and CIA formed a top-secret joint task force codenamed Honey Badger

00:18:15.066 --> 00:18:17.933
In a secret office in Northern Virginia

00:18:17.933 --> 00:18:20.333
they stared at photos of missing personnel

00:18:20.333 --> 00:18:22.833
the investigation fell into internal conflict and blame

00:18:22.833 --> 00:18:24.466
System flaws alone could not explain

00:18:24.466 --> 00:18:27.033
why some offline contacts were also exposed

00:18:27.033 --> 00:18:29.066
because CIA information is compartmentalized

00:18:29.066 --> 00:18:33.066
so the Honey Badger team identified the final factor

00:18:33.066 --> 00:18:33.866
a mole

00:18:33.866 --> 00:18:36.266
one of them was named Lee Zhencheng

00:18:36.266 --> 00:18:38.833
Lee Zhencheng was Hong Kong-born and a U.S. citizen

00:18:38.833 --> 00:18:43.333
he served 13 years as a core CIA operations officer with top clearance

00:18:43.433 --> 00:18:44.866
fluent in Chinese and English

00:18:44.866 --> 00:18:46.966
focused on East Asia and China

00:18:46.966 --> 00:18:51.366
In 2007, he left due to a career ceiling

00:18:51.433 --> 00:18:55.133
and moved to Hong Kong to start a consulting firm

00:18:55.133 --> 00:18:57.800
but the business failed

00:18:57.800 --> 00:19:01.066
a former agent with top secrets

00:19:01.066 --> 00:19:04.166
ended up struggling in Hong Kong

00:19:04.166 --> 00:19:07.566
his skills had no use in civilian life

00:19:07.566 --> 00:19:10.966
for MSS to ignore him would be absurd

00:19:10.966 --> 00:19:12.600
some U.S. officials suspected

00:19:12.600 --> 00:19:14.766
his business opportunity was staged

00:19:14.766 --> 00:19:17.133
as a trap

00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.666
waiting until he left CIA protection

00:19:19.666 --> 00:19:23.466
In April 2010, MSS officers approached him

00:19:23.466 --> 00:19:26.133
offering $100,000 upfront

00:19:26.133 --> 00:19:29.166
and promising lifelong support

00:19:29.233 --> 00:19:33.066
Over three years, MSS gave him 21 task lists

00:19:33.066 --> 00:19:35.833
he provided classified information

00:19:35.833 --> 00:19:37.833
and received $840,000

00:19:37.833 --> 00:19:41.566
In August 2012, during the peak purge

00:19:41.566 --> 00:19:44.566
the FBI lured him back to the U.S.

00:19:44.633 --> 00:19:47.833
and searched his luggage in Hawaii

00:19:47.833 --> 00:19:50.900
The findings shocked the agents

00:19:50.933 --> 00:19:55.200
they found handwritten notes and address books

00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:59.200
listing names of CIA informants

00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:00.866
and secret locations

00:20:00.866 --> 00:20:02.166
clear evidence

00:20:02.166 --> 00:20:05.433
but the shocking part was

00:20:05.433 --> 00:20:07.766
the FBI didn’t arrest him

00:20:07.800 --> 00:20:10.533
after five weak interrogations

00:20:10.533 --> 00:20:12.633
he was released

00:20:12.633 --> 00:20:15.100
because prosecution would expose damage

00:20:15.166 --> 00:20:18.333
no one wanted that

00:20:18.333 --> 00:20:21.000
it would destroy careers

00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.633
Six years later, in 2018

00:20:23.633 --> 00:20:27.300
he returned to New York

00:20:27.333 --> 00:20:31.166
and was arrested at JFK Airport

00:20:31.166 --> 00:20:33.200
He pleaded guilty in 2019

00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:35.666
and was sentenced to 19 years

00:20:35.666 --> 00:20:39.133
Why release him and wait six years

00:20:39.133 --> 00:20:42.233
This reveals internal conflict

00:20:42.233 --> 00:20:46.500
FBI believed there was a mole

00:20:46.533 --> 00:20:50.166
but CIA official Mark Kelton

00:20:50.166 --> 00:20:50.666
refused

00:20:50.666 --> 00:20:53.933
due to past trauma

00:20:53.933 --> 00:20:58.066
his colleague had been wrongly accused

00:20:58.066 --> 00:21:01.266
and the real spy was FBI’s own

00:21:01.266 --> 00:21:03.166
Robert Hanssen

00:21:03.166 --> 00:21:06.833
Kelton opposed internal accusations

00:21:06.833 --> 00:21:11.100
and demanded hard evidence

00:21:11.233 --> 00:21:13.833
This was procedural justice

00:21:13.833 --> 00:21:16.633
but also a fatal delay

00:21:16.633 --> 00:21:18.433
FBI accused CIA

00:21:18.433 --> 00:21:20.966
CIA accused FBI

00:21:20.966 --> 00:21:23.033
the investigation stalled

00:21:23.033 --> 00:21:25.733
The final conclusion

00:21:25.733 --> 00:21:28.200
was multiple factors

00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:32.433
moles, flaws, and poor tradecraft

00:21:32.433 --> 00:21:35.766
a typical bureaucratic compromise

00:21:35.766 --> 00:21:39.566
that diffused responsibility

00:21:39.633 --> 00:21:41.600
In the investigation

00:21:41.600 --> 00:21:45.833
FBI agent Charles McGonigal

00:21:45.933 --> 00:21:47.666
later became a spy himself

00:21:47.766 --> 00:21:48.533
taking Russian money

00:21:48.533 --> 00:21:52.100
and leaking FBI information

00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:53.866
He was imprisoned

00:21:53.866 --> 00:21:55.866
Lee was not alone

00:21:55.866 --> 00:21:57.033
many others

00:21:57.033 --> 00:22:00.266
were also prosecuted

00:22:00.266 --> 00:22:04.100
including Kevin Mallory

00:22:04.133 --> 00:22:07.833
and others who worked for MSS

00:22:07.833 --> 00:22:10.166
Mallory was a former CIA officer

00:22:10.166 --> 00:22:13.666
who sold secrets in Shanghai

00:22:13.666 --> 00:22:17.333
and was sentenced to 20 years

00:22:17.333 --> 00:22:21.566
Ron Hansen took $800,000

00:22:21.566 --> 00:22:24.000
and was sentenced to 10 years

00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:27.366
Alexander Ma

00:22:27.366 --> 00:22:28.966
leaked secrets in Hong Kong

00:22:28.966 --> 00:22:30.966
and was recorded

00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:31.866
counting cash

00:22:31.866 --> 00:22:34.733
during the transaction

00:22:34.733 --> 00:22:38.533
and the evidence was undeniable

00:22:38.533 --> 00:22:41.033
he was sentenced accordingly

00:22:41.033 --> 00:22:44.033
this pattern repeated

00:22:44.033 --> 00:22:47.366
again and again

00:22:47.433 --> 00:22:49.333
These cases exposed a brutal truth

00:22:49.333 --> 00:22:51.933
and the coldest institutional flaw of the U.S. intelligence system

00:22:51.933 --> 00:22:53.933
exit management was almost nonexistent

00:22:53.933 --> 00:22:56.400
The CIA spends millions of dollars over years

00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.766
to train someone into a dangerous intelligence asset

00:22:58.766 --> 00:23:02.700
and then when they hit a career ceiling in their 40s

00:23:02.733 --> 00:23:04.933
they are abandoned into the civilian market

00:23:04.933 --> 00:23:06.933
When these former agents realize

00:23:06.933 --> 00:23:09.933
their skills are useless outside espionage

00:23:09.966 --> 00:23:13.766
when they face mounting bills and unpaid mortgages

00:23:13.766 --> 00:23:17.333
when they see a LinkedIn message from a Chinese recruiter

00:23:17.333 --> 00:23:18.933
with a $100,000 deposit

00:23:18.933 --> 00:23:20.400
the outcome is almost inevitable

00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:24.433
MSS can simply pick up a former spy with top clearance

00:23:25.933 --> 00:23:29.333
If you think taking down 30 spies ended the story

00:23:29.333 --> 00:23:31.766
you underestimate the system

00:23:31.766 --> 00:23:35.833
The destruction of CIA’s network was only the first half

00:23:35.833 --> 00:23:37.066
Now comes the second half

00:23:37.066 --> 00:23:39.500
China began using big data

00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:41.833
to redefine counterintelligence

00:23:41.833 --> 00:23:45.766
After 2013, U.S. intelligence noticed a new capability

00:23:46.033 --> 00:23:47.966
CIA agents with

00:23:47.966 --> 00:23:49.966
perfect cover identities

00:23:49.966 --> 00:23:52.033
traveled to Africa or Europe

00:23:52.033 --> 00:23:54.966
but once they passed immigration

00:23:54.966 --> 00:23:57.233
Chinese surveillance began

00:23:57.266 --> 00:23:58.833
CIA agents were confused

00:23:58.833 --> 00:24:01.266
My identity is fake, my background is fabricated

00:24:01.266 --> 00:24:03.100
how could they know I’m CIA

00:24:03.100 --> 00:24:04.566
The answer is big data

00:24:04.566 --> 00:24:06.066
This leads to 2015

00:24:06.066 --> 00:24:09.300
the OPM hack

00:24:09.300 --> 00:24:10.933
According to U.S. claims

00:24:10.933 --> 00:24:14.300
China obtained data on 21.5 million people

00:24:14.300 --> 00:24:17.066
including government employees and families

00:24:17.066 --> 00:24:19.133
including 5.6 million fingerprints

00:24:19.133 --> 00:24:21.833
and SF-86 security forms

00:24:21.833 --> 00:24:25.166
These 127-page forms record everything

00:24:25.166 --> 00:24:28.033
mental health, affairs, debts, orientation

00:24:28.033 --> 00:24:30.766
financial status

00:24:30.766 --> 00:24:34.066
FBI Director Comey said

00:24:34.066 --> 00:24:37.433
China now holds a database of everyone connected to government

00:24:37.433 --> 00:24:40.800
At the same time, hackers accessed Marriott

00:24:40.866 --> 00:24:43.833
500 million records

00:24:43.833 --> 00:24:46.800
United Airlines and Anthem

00:24:46.833 --> 00:24:49.366
and Equifax data

00:24:49.366 --> 00:24:52.233
Imagine the combined power of this data

00:24:52.233 --> 00:24:55.266
If someone named John

00:24:55.266 --> 00:24:57.500
arrives with a diplomatic passport

00:24:57.500 --> 00:24:59.266
data is checked instantly

00:24:59.466 --> 00:25:02.633
John appears in State Department records

00:25:02.633 --> 00:25:07.100
but not in OPM databases

00:25:07.100 --> 00:25:08.533
missing entirely

00:25:08.533 --> 00:25:09.966
Why missing

00:25:09.966 --> 00:25:14.366
because CIA uses separate systems

00:25:14.366 --> 00:25:17.466
big data reveals

00:25:17.466 --> 00:25:20.500
any mismatch

00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:23.666
is likely a CIA agent

00:25:23.733 --> 00:25:25.266
Under big data

00:25:25.333 --> 00:25:28.000
traditional spy methods

00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.366
were crushed

00:25:30.366 --> 00:25:33.133
into history

00:25:33.233 --> 00:25:35.466
Former CIA analyst Gail Helt

00:25:35.466 --> 00:25:38.800
recalled the panic

00:25:38.966 --> 00:25:41.433
this affects everyone

00:25:41.433 --> 00:25:45.266
anyone connected

00:25:45.266 --> 00:25:46.500
it was terrifying

00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:48.566
And more

00:25:48.566 --> 00:25:52.600
the Snowden revelations

00:25:52.666 --> 00:25:54.133
showed NSA surveillance

00:25:54.133 --> 00:25:57.033
of Chinese systems

00:25:57.033 --> 00:25:59.333
this shocked China

00:25:59.466 --> 00:26:01.333
the internet

00:26:01.333 --> 00:26:03.200
was weaponized

00:26:03.233 --> 00:26:06.333
Combined with the purge

00:26:06.333 --> 00:26:09.700
this accelerated cybersecurity

00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:10.966
According to reports

00:26:10.966 --> 00:26:14.466
China transformed its intelligence system

00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:17.066
from data collection

00:26:17.100 --> 00:26:19.466
to analysis

00:26:19.633 --> 00:26:23.433
integrating language and data centers

00:26:23.433 --> 00:26:25.466
into industrialized intelligence

00:26:25.466 --> 00:26:27.733
before AI

00:26:27.733 --> 00:26:31.933
now even more powerful

00:26:31.933 --> 00:26:34.800
The impact extended beyond intelligence

00:26:37.133 --> 00:26:40.600
it reshaped China’s security system

00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:44.200
We mentioned Hu Jintao

00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:47.866
who led the purge

00:26:47.966 --> 00:26:51.533
with a pragmatic approach

00:26:51.633 --> 00:26:53.833
focused on stability

00:26:53.833 --> 00:26:56.266
avoiding crisis

00:26:56.266 --> 00:27:00.233
After 2012, the Xi era began

00:27:00.233 --> 00:27:03.200
counterintelligence became political

00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:07.733
linked with anti-corruption and security doctrine

00:27:07.733 --> 00:27:09.166
tightly integrated

00:27:09.166 --> 00:27:11.533
First came restructuring

00:27:11.533 --> 00:27:16.200
In 2014, Xi established the National Security Commission

00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:19.400
Previously, MSS was under political-legal control

00:27:19.400 --> 00:27:21.400
especially under Zhou Yongkang

00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:22.833
in a subordinate role

00:27:22.833 --> 00:27:25.766
The establishment of the National Security Commission centralized dispersed security powers

00:27:25.766 --> 00:27:27.566
into the hands of the top leader

00:27:27.566 --> 00:27:30.166
The MSS gained higher political status

00:27:30.166 --> 00:27:35.066
In 2014, Zhou Yongkang, the former security chief

00:27:35.066 --> 00:27:36.100
was investigated

00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:39.200
one charge was leaking state secrets

00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:42.033
In January 2015, Ma Jian

00:27:42.033 --> 00:27:44.766
a former counterintelligence official

00:27:44.766 --> 00:27:49.400
was sentenced to life for abusing power

00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:51.666
Beijing MSS chief Liang Ke also fell

00:27:51.666 --> 00:27:53.400
Personnel were reshuffled

00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:56.633
In 2016, Chen Wenqing replaced Geng Huichang

00:27:56.633 --> 00:28:00.166
Chen was a former discipline inspector

00:28:00.166 --> 00:28:02.600
who handled major cases

00:28:02.600 --> 00:28:06.733
signaling internal cleansing

00:28:06.766 --> 00:28:09.700
to eliminate factional networks

00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:11.966
and consolidate control

00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:13.866
in the leader’s hands

00:28:13.966 --> 00:28:15.233
Legal tools expanded

00:28:15.233 --> 00:28:19.066
In 2014, a new Counter-Espionage Law replaced the old law

00:28:19.066 --> 00:28:21.133
In 2017, the National Intelligence Law

00:28:21.133 --> 00:28:23.666
In 2023, revisions expanded definitions

00:28:23.666 --> 00:28:27.366
including data security

00:28:27.366 --> 00:28:31.066
The MSS moved to the forefront

00:28:31.066 --> 00:28:32.966
and into public messaging

00:28:32.966 --> 00:28:36.266
In 2015, a reporting hotline

00:28:36.333 --> 00:28:40.166
In 2017, rewards up to 500,000 RMB

00:28:40.166 --> 00:28:42.600
In 2023, an official account

00:28:42.600 --> 00:28:46.633
published its first article

00:28:46.633 --> 00:28:49.666
calling for public mobilization

00:28:49.666 --> 00:28:51.666
When CIA Director Burns

00:28:51.766 --> 00:28:54.133
said networks were being rebuilt

00:28:54.166 --> 00:28:56.900
MSS responded publicly

00:28:57.066 --> 00:29:00.000
even posting a mocking article

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:05.066
about a CIA officer killed in China

00:29:05.066 --> 00:29:06.933
implying a challenge

00:29:08.566 --> 00:29:11.333
The covert war review is complete

00:29:11.333 --> 00:29:13.666
If you think

00:29:13.666 --> 00:29:17.233
the CIA is incompetent

00:29:17.233 --> 00:29:19.633
that would be a mistake

00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:23.300
Don’t mistake failure for weakness

00:29:23.300 --> 00:29:25.333
Look at U.S. military capabilities

00:29:25.333 --> 00:29:26.700
precision strikes

00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:29.533
eliminating targets globally

00:29:29.533 --> 00:29:31.500
this power remains

00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:34.033
So why did it fail in Beijing

00:29:34.066 --> 00:29:36.300
because reality is complex

00:29:36.300 --> 00:29:40.033
this was a collision of two systems

00:29:40.033 --> 00:29:43.333
Washington treated it as investment

00:29:43.333 --> 00:29:46.766
focused on metrics

00:29:46.766 --> 00:29:48.900
Beijing faced survival

00:29:48.900 --> 00:29:52.133
a system under threat

00:29:52.133 --> 00:29:54.566
When arrogance met survival

00:29:54.566 --> 00:29:56.466
the outcome was inevitable

00:29:56.466 --> 00:29:58.333
This was not moral

00:29:58.333 --> 00:30:00.833
but survival

00:30:00.866 --> 00:30:02.866
The most chilling part

00:30:03.066 --> 00:30:06.333
is the people caught in between

00:30:06.333 --> 00:30:08.100
whether officials

00:30:08.100 --> 00:30:12.466
or agents like Lee

00:30:12.466 --> 00:30:15.666
none mattered

00:30:15.666 --> 00:30:18.366
they were expendable

00:30:18.366 --> 00:30:21.433
no one cared

00:30:21.433 --> 00:30:24.766
they were just numbers

00:30:24.766 --> 00:30:27.166
in a system

00:30:27.166 --> 00:30:29.366
The weak always suffer

00:30:29.366 --> 00:30:31.366
in great power conflict

00:30:31.433 --> 00:30:36.433
people are disposable

00:30:36.433 --> 00:30:38.800
Elephants fight, grass suffers

00:30:43.266 --> 00:30:44.500
I’m broke

00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:46.866
rent, bills, credit cards

00:30:46.866 --> 00:30:48.666
haven’t eaten

00:30:48.666 --> 00:30:49.766
still can’t pay

00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:51.466
What should I do

00:30:51.466 --> 00:30:52.333
Finished the video

00:30:52.333 --> 00:30:53.200
What video

00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:55.933
I’m starving

00:30:55.933 --> 00:30:57.400
Talking back now

00:30:57.400 --> 00:30:59.366
I’ll report you

00:30:59.366 --> 00:31:01.300
Maybe I won’t starve

00:31:01.300 --> 00:31:03.566
Money is coming

00:31:04.266 --> 00:31:07.333
Money money

00:31:07.333 --> 00:31:09.300
Breaking news

00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:12.200
A former journalist

00:31:12.200 --> 00:31:16.100
has been arrested

00:31:16.333 --> 00:31:20.100
with help from an informant

00:31:20.100 --> 00:31:24.066
who received a reward

00:31:24.066 --> 00:31:26.433
Everyone must report spies