%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Editorial Board of CBS Incident Committee %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Wednesday, June 1, 1994 ============================================================================= *** Part I. General Information *** ============================================================================= Table of Contents # of Lines ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Transcript of CBS Evening News (May 19, 1994, 6:30pm) ............... 17 2. CBS Incident Committee has been established ......................... 135 3. Join hands and support the CBS Incident Committee against CBS ....... 199 4. Nick Eftimiades and His Book ``Chinese Intelligence Operations''..... 284 5. What is "Class Action Suit"? ........................................ 378 ============================================================================== ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Excerpt from Transcript of CBS Evening News (May 19, 1994, 6:30pm) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: YANG Chang-Qing .. Connie Chung (CC): Coming up next, Eye on America. Tonight, the biggest spy network in America. We'll tell you who's running it and how. CC: The recent Ames spy case served as a reminder that the espionage business in the country is still thriving; that you don't always find spies in trench coats and that you could find them in the house next door. In a special investigation, CBS News found out how China is grooming agents to keep an Eye on America. Unidentified Woman: Only US citizens continue straight ahead. CC: Every day, planeloads of Chinese citizens arrive legally in the United States, ordinary people. But to the Chinese government, some of them may be future spies, who a few years down the road, will be activated to steal American's military and technological secrets, whether they want to or not. Are there any other countries that you know of that have this kind of spy network operating here in the United States? Mr. Nicholas Eftimiades (Defense Information Agency) (NE): No, not-- certainly not to this--to this degrees. CC: Nicholas Eftimiades, who works for an American spy agency, the Defense Information Agency. His new book on Chinese intelligence raises serious questions for American government and business. NE: I don't think we can say at this point any Western government is prepared to deal with this type of espionage threat, because it's different from anything that we've known to date. CC: It all starts here in Beijing. A Chinese student or scientist or businessperson applies for a visa to go to the US. Then the Ministry of State Security starts asking questions: What can you learn in the States? Will you be working with computers? Will you be loyal to China? And most importantly, can you be patient? Eftimiades says the prospective spies are trained, paid, and warned to stay in touch. `Remember,' they are told, `we'll be watching your family members in China. 'Lay low until you're contacted,' they're told. It could be years. NE: Let me put it to you in the terms that the Chinese Intelligence Services describes it: Chen di yu, which is a Ministry of State Security slang term for fish on the bottom of the ocean. This has been defined in Western espionage as sleeper agents. CC: So they just sit there like fish at the bottom of the ocean and do nothing? NE: They wait. CC: Until they have to surface. NE: Exactly. CC: This man is one of those Chinese fish at the bottom of the American ocean. Call him a reluctant spy. He's afraid he'll be contacted soon to hand over state-of-the-art computer programs. Unidentified Man #1: Never forget, you belong to our organization. CC: `Never forget.' they told him, `you belong to our organization.' Man #1: You were sent by our organization. CC: `You were sent by our organization, and this organization belongs to the Communist Party.' Man #1: ... Communist Party. CC: Twenty-three years ago this man, Kao Yen Men, came to the US. In recent years, he lived a quiet life in this house in Charlotte, North Carolina. And he even bought a restaurant in downtown Charlotte. His neighbors never knew what he was up to. Unidentified Man #2: I really didn't know what to think. I mean, you know, we came down to this nice little Southern city, and the next thing you know I'm down the street from a spy. I thought this was, like, a little fiction movie or something, but... CC: Some movie. After a six-year FBI investigation, Kao was arrested and charged with trying to steal the advanced Mark 48 torpedo, engines for the FA-18 Hornet jet fighter and radar for the F-16 Falcon jet. Kao was caught, but security expert Pat Pattakos says most American companies are too naive about the Chinese spy threat. Mr. Arion "Pat" Pattakos (Beta Analytics): Right now a lot of people don't really think of protecting themselves. CC: Especially when the target is information and computer data... Mr. Pattakos: They'll look at all of this information here that they can access. Unidentified Man #3: Yes. CC: ...all part of the more and more accessible information superhighway. Mr. Pattakos: I mean, it's very easy to know when a truck is missing in front of your place. I mean, it's gone. It's a physical object. But think about information. Information is more intangible and people may not know...realize that it's lost. CC: Pattakos says a new national strategy between business and government can trap the spies. Eftimiades is much less optimistic. NE: Once these spies get into American society, once they're deeply rooted into our structure, our society's structure, we're not going to be able to detect them. There is no way to stop them at that point. CC: The FBI is trying to help American corporations protect themselves from espionage. The bureau has a program now to brief executive about how their companies could become targets. .. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. CBS Incident Committee has been established -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the fcbs-l. This listserv is dedicated to serve the general CSS community who are angered by biased CBS evening news, "Eye on America", aired on May 19 1994. As a more or less silent minority in this land, we Chinese have long been the best target of injustice, wrongfully stereotype and racial discrimination. Last year, when Golden Venture went aground, the exposure was pushed to its maximum. No one asked how many Chinese actually had illegally entered U.S.A. compared to the other nationalities. The fact is, although New York City has the highest concentration of illegal Chinese population in the country, however, its illegal Chinese population ranks barely tenth in the City. The leading illegal immigrant group, however, is from a European country, and no body wants to mention it at all. Further more, the media, intended or not, has portrayed Chinese communities as filled with gangs, kidnappings, people smuggling and slave labors. While we admit there are crimes in our community just as in any other communities, however, most Chinese are law abiding people and more often than not are victims of various criminal groups. Now came the CBS report. While the previous hot topic was focused on illegal Chinese, it seemed that we legal Chinese were exempted from the biased attack. No way! Legally entered? You are potential spies for the Chinese government! Are these claims made by Connie Chung the truth? Not likely. Now, the CBS made a blatant allegation that any ordinary Chinese could be a potential spy. It is said that Beijing is the starting point. When "A Chinese student or scientist or businessperson applies for a visa to go to the US. Then the Ministry of State Security starts asking questions: What can you learn in the States? Will you be working with computers? Will you be loyal to China? And most importantly, can you be patient?" What is the fact? Such a spy was caught when stealing American secrets for China. He was portrayed as "Chen di yu", or, "sleeper agents". His name is Kao Yen Men, who came to the US "twenty-three years ago". Twenty-three years ago? It was then 1971, when there was no diplomatic relation between China and US. Chinese students, scientists and businessmen began arriving in US in 1978, more than seven years later than Mr. Kao Yen Men ever did. This Mr Kao, even might not be a Chinese national. Even so, most of the Chinese students and scientists were J-1 visa holders, or exchange visitors, who were subject to the vigorously imposed "two-year-home-residency" requirement by US Intelligence Agency and Immigration And Naturalization Service. There was no way for these potential "fish" even to think of the "bottom". By deliberately putting Mr. Kao's isolated case together with ordinary Chinese people, CBS was implying that the later could be all potential spies. How to control this army of spies? "Ministry of State Security will be watching their family members in China". So, no one can refuse to work as a spy. They wait to be contacted even it is against their wills. So, CBS is inspiring a wild imagination. Any Chinese, no matter how innocent he/she looks or is, could be a potential spy. How come? they have family members in China, and patient to wait. They have to. Can we tolerate this kind of allegation? Can you? Please join our fcbs-l network. Please join our CBS Incident Committee, and fight any discrimination against we Chinese people. Justice must be served and our names must be cleared. We will resort to any actions appropriate to the last ditch. Legal actions, protestings, demonstrations! United, we stand. United, we can fight discrimination. United, we must make a difference! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Join hands and support the CBS Incident Committee against CBS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RSW@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu Dear fellow CSS, I missed the CBS report regarding "Chinese spies," but I'm with you to seek justice if the information I'm getting is correct. As pointed out by many concerned people, we Chinese as a group or a community in this country are faced with racial stereotype, bias, and injustice, which are not a rare exception for any particular ethnic group or community. I see this as a problem involving eventually all ethnic communities one way or another. The difference is, however, we Chinese as a community have not stood up and made our voices heard as forcefully as other ethnic communities have. I shall say that, as individuals, we are second to none in values, abilities and achievements; unfortunately, as a community, we have yet to demonstrate the cohesiveness and togetherness other communities have shown. It is not that we are unwilling or incapable; it is that we have not grown to adapt to the American system, to know how to utilize the administrative, legal and public opinion means available to us to advance our community interests. Yet, fortunately, we are growing maturer everyday. This growing maturity is seeded in our realization of the importance of organization. IFCSS is a fine example of what organization means to our community. IFCSS' record on a range of issues, most noticeably immigration and human rights issues, has been impressive. I hope, with immigration and human rights issues now firmly established on a stable plane, IFCSS will afford to take on more community oriented issues, as many activists have urged. I disagree with the notion that IFCSS no longer possesses a mandate for her existence because of the new political realities (the cooling of democracy movement, the "delink" of MFN and human rights, the fading of immigration agenda, etc.). I believe that the new realities present both challenges and opportunities for IFCSS to mature and become even stronger both as a political advocate and as a community representative. Let's again rally under the IFCSS flag for a better community and a better China. To paraphrase President Kennedy's words: Ask not what IFCSS can do for us; ask what we can do for IFCSS to help our homeland and ourselves. Those who work hard and sacrifice for our community and our country, regardless of their political views, deserve our respect, appreciation and support. United, we can be bigger than ourselves and do unimaginable things. This is the American way, and should be our Chinese way as well. I'm quite moved by the responses to the unjustifiable CBS news report. While we still have some homework to do as to what is the best way to achieve our goals, we must act as a group. Only through concerted action may we define ourselves rather than being defined by some uninformed or ill-motivated people. I'm encouraged by the organized effort in this regard. For this reason, I offer my support as an ordinary Chinese citizen and guest in this great but not perfect country. By and large, American people are reasonable, fair and decent. The trick is public opinion, which is often misled or manipulated by the media that are becoming increasingly sensational and by politicians who are growing inclined to pick on the weak to cover their own inability to tackle the real problems facing this nation and society. It's unfortunate that "only the strong will survive." But it's the reality we have to deal with. So, let's set our own agenda and counter the bad publicity with wisdom and determination. Fellows, the responsibility of fighting stereotype, bias and injustice rests on ourselves. Please do not vent our anger by blaming others who might choose or have indeed chosen to "delink" themselves from the "Chinese identity"--- genetic or cultural. Our Chinese pride must be seen in our collective action and vision. When we stand up together for our community interest and image, we will win respect and association not only from our fellow Chinese, but from Americans and others alike. Therefore, I urge refraining from targeting on individuals such as Ms. Connie Chung (the CBS anchorwoman). She was just performing her duty, I believe, no matter what she stands for in her heart. We must think deeper than that. I in fact have sympathy for her having to say what she said in that news report. So, join our hands and support the Committee against the CBS news report. Yes, together, we can and will make a big difference! Respectfully, Jienan CHEN University of Florida ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Nick Eftimiades and His Book, ``Chinese Intelligence Operations,'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: clarinews@clarinet.com (AP) WASHINGTON (AP) -- China spies on the United States more aggressively than does any other nation, and U.S. counterespionage agencies are ill-prepared to cope with it, according to a new book by a Defense Intelligence Agency officer. Nick Eftimiades, a China specialist and counterintelligence analyst at the DIA, blames an ``unseen, unspoken'' but real and deliberate reluctance among U.S. political leaders in recent years to get tough with China on espionage. ``People don't want to bang on China,'' he said in an interview this week. In his book, ``Chinese Intelligence Operations,'' Eftimiades specifically cited the Bush administration's efforts to improve political relations with Beijing as an ``impediment to effective action against'' China's espionage. Robert Gates, director of the CIA during the Bush administration, said in an interview it was nonsense to suggest that counterspy efforts were hurt by President Bush's overtures to Beijing. But he agreed that China's spying activities have ``probably stepped up'' and ``become more sophisticated.'' The book's publication comes at a politically sensitive time in U.S.-Chinese relations, as President Clinton prepares to decide by next week whether to revoke most-favored nation trade privileges as punishment for Beijing's reported human rights abuses. Eftimiades stressed that his book was not meant as a call to arms against a threat to Western democracy; indeed, he notes that China's intelligence operations historically have suffered from sloppiness, poor planning and weak execution. Even so, he says, the sheer volume of operations ensures some will succeed. ``There is no question that their espionage activities are more pervasive than what we have seen from any other country,'' Eftimiades said in the interview. Yet when people think of foreign spying in the United States they think of Soviet ``moles'' such as Aldrich Ames, a CIA officer who pleaded guilty last month to selling state secrets to Moscow for nine years and was sentenced to life in prison. They don't think of Larry Chin Wu-tai. He was a CIA analyst who passed national secrets to Beijing for 35 years before retiring in 1981. Four years after retirement, Chin was indicted on spying charges and was later convicted. Eftimiades has spent 10 years in the intelligence business, first at the CIA and the State Department and now at DIA, where he helps assess damage caused by spying against America, including the Ames case. It is unusual for an active U.S. intelligence official to write a book on spying, and Eftimiades' experience in getting his published shows some of the reasons why. The least of his problems was having the manuscript reviewed by the government to ensure no secrets were disclosed. The real trouble came from fellow DIA workers, some of whom were angered that he did not share with DIA his interviews with Chinese intelligence officers. While some DIA officials protested to his superiors, Eftimiades said, the agency never challenged his right to publish the book, which he researched and wrote on his own time. He says the American government, including its counterintelligence agencies, practically ignored China's spying during the Cold War because the Soviet Union was seen as a more dangerous and immediate threat. Yet even now, after the demise of the Soviet empire, Washington pays relatively little attention to China's aggressive espionage and is sorely lacking in the linguistic and other skills required to combat it, Eftimiades says. ``The United States and other Western industrialized nations are woefully unprepared'' to counteract China's spying, Eftimiades wrote. Vincent Cannistraro, a former CIA officer who was director of intelligence programs at the National Security Council in 1984-87, said in an interview that he agreed U.S. capabilities to neutralize Chinese spying were lacking at a time when Beijing is ``engaged in espionage against us in a serious way.'' China's intelligence apparatus draws on the services of not only the 11,500 diplomats, trade representatives and other Chinese visitors here, but also the 15,000 Chinese students who arrive on U.S. campuses each year and hundreds of thousands of Chinese Americans around the country, Eftimiades wrote. One of China's favorite methods is to ``plant'' long-term agents in the United States who are trained to remain inactive for 10 years or more, until they have sunk deep roots into a U.S. corporation, institution or government agency. These are known in Chinese spy agency slang as ``fish at the bottom of the ocean.'' Eftimiades said China's top intelligence-gathering priorities in the United States are advanced U.S. technology for military use; identifying foreign policy trends, including trade; and counteracting Chinese dissident groups. The FBI, which has primary responsibility for counterintelligence within U.S. borders, the CIA and the Chinese Embassy declined to comment on the book. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. What is "Class Action Suit"? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: zhu@sisko.ecs.umass.edu (Gao-Qiu Zhu) Here's an entry in the New American Desk Encyclopedia [1984 Edition]: CLASS ACTION SUIT is a lawsuit brought by one or more members of a large group on behalf of all members who share a common interest in the issue of law and fact, and have suffered a similar wrong for which they seek relief from the court. If the trial court agrees to hear the suit, all members of the group must be informed and be given the opportunity, if they so desire, to exclude themselves from the group. If a member does not exclude himself, he must accept the judgement of the court. One or more stockholders, for instance, may bring a class action suit on behalf of other stockholders who object to the policies of the corporations. Class action suits have been successfully brought against companies which, over a period of years, systematically discriminated against women or minorities in their pay and promotion policies. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Coordinator of CBS Incident Committee: Mr. Mi Mi, Sr., % % --------------------------------------------------------- % % Sign on/off at listserv@ifcss.org, with mailbody as: % % sub fcbs-l Firstname Lastname, or signoff fcbs-l % % Post at fcbs-l@ifcss.org % % Anonymous ftp: to be arranged at ifcss.org % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%