WEBVTT - The Sixth Bureau Episode 3: Suck, Squeeze, Burn, Blow 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.120 A couple quick notes before we get started. Throughout the 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:05.920 rest of the series, you'll hear people refer to GE. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.959 They're usually talking about a division of the General Electric 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:13.319 Company that made aircraft engines, GE Aviation. Today it's an 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:17.280 independent company called GE Aerospace. So you'll hear people use 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.680 all these terms and they basically mean the same thing. Also, 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:23.360 this is the third episode of this series. If you 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.599 missed the first two, we recommend going back and listening 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:26.880 in order. Thanks. 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:33.960 Do you know what that is? 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:38.440 It's loud. 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:43.320 It's loud, Drake. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:44.960 You want to talk about where we are and what 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:45.519 we're seeing. 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.080 We're at the Paris Air Show, and that noise in 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:54.840 the background is kind of advanced fighter jet doing loops 0:00:54.840 --> 0:01:03.640 above us in the sky all around us. Wow. The 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:07.080 Paris episode takes place every two years. It's been happening 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:10.560 since nineteen oh nine, almost as long as airplanes have existed. 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:13.759 It's held at Le Bourges Airport, which is actually where 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.880 Charles Lindbergh landed after his famous flight across the Atlantic 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.600 in nineteen twenty seven. A century later, this airport still 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.240 gets to be for a week the center of the 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:24.520 aviation world. 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.680 This is the greatest repository of knowledge about the industry 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:30.600 you're going to find on a global basis. 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:34.760 This is Richard Abolafia, a consultant in the aviation industry, 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.840 and who are some of the biggest companies here. 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:44.280 The charismatic megafauna are the airframers. So you've got following Airbus, Lockeyed, Martin, 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.800 folks like that. And then you've got the engine ecosystem 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:51.360 led by General Electric and to well dozens and hundreds 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.360 of thousands even of companies going down to. 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.560 The second, third, and fourth tier of the supply chain. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.200 People are here to network and to show off. There 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:03.040 are all these huge exhibition halls full of booths displaying 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:08.400 products like control systems, landing gear, radar transponders. Outside aircraft 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.080 are lined up along the taxiway, shining in the bright 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.799 sun in all their glory. There's all sorts of eye 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.720 candy here in all directions. But we spent the majority 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.720 of our time looking at one thing, the. 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:24.960 GE nine X aircraft engine. It's the most powerful commercial 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:26.799 jet engine that's ever been made. 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.880 The GE nine X, made by GE Aerospace is outside 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.800 on its own little stage with its own security guards 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:36.440 and a velvet rope. First it's huge. 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:40.240 It's gigantic. I mean, at its widest the sort of 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:45.320 intake fan blade section is almost twelve feet in diameter, 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:49.399 so you can see inside it, and it looks really complicated. 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:54.240 I even having done the reporting we've done, like, can't 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:56.720 make much sense of what I'm looking at, honestly, But 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:01.799 if you did have a little bit more of technical proficiency, 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:06.440 like Richard, who definitely has a little more technical proficiency 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.639 than we do, and he says, jet propulsion is actually 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.440 pretty straightforward. It boils down to four words. 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:15.520 Suck, squeeze, burn, blow. 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:19.359 Suck, squeeze, burn, blow. 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:24.639 You're sucking air in, you're squeezing it, you're compressing it 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.720 in several stages of a compressor. 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.840 Burn, of course, is the combustor that's an engine, just 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.120 like a car engine. It's burning fuel. 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:34.960 And then blow, of course, is what comes out the 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:36.440 back that gives you your propulsion. 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:41.160 Simple and yet really hard to perfect, because making an 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:44.120 engine is one thing. Making it light enough and powerful 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.000 enough to fly through the air is another. Making money 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.000 on it is another, and having everyone land safely at 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:53.600 the end of the day every single time is still another. 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:57.720 The steaks are incredibly high, so being able to make 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:02.040 engines like this puts ge into a very exclusive club. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:06.200 There are only three companies and two countries in the 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:10.040 entire world that can build a decent commercial jet engine, 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.960 General Electric and Bratton Whitney of the US and Rolls 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:13.800 Royce in Britain. 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:17.760 None of those companies you'll notice are Chinese. There are 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:20.480 all sorts of areas where Chinese companies have caught up 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.360 with and surpassed their Western competitors. Today, a smartphone made 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:27.520 by China's Huawei is just as advanced as an iPhone, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.000 and a bid electric car is on par with the 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.760 Tesla and a fraction of the price. But when it 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.839 comes to commercial aviation and commercial jet engines, no dice. 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.400 Obviously, the Chinese government wants to change that. They claim 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.880 that their latest fighter jets already rival Americas, and China's 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:47.560 state owned airplane maker Comac is currently making commercial planes 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:50.839 meant to compete with Airbus and Boeing. But Chinese passenger 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:53.800 jets are still heavily reliant on tech from Western companies, 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:57.240 which makes the Paris Air Show a very compelling destination 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:03.680 for a certain type of government employee. What about spy 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:04.719 so vice. 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.960 There's no question, there's no question. You know you re 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:09.080 enter Shoe. 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:10.280 Yeah, June. 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:16.320 Shoe was here back in twenty seventeen. But of course 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.279 to get to the Paris Ara show, he and his 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.600 colleagues had to take precautions. They used a front company 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.480 to get their visas and they didn't fly directly to France. 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.120 June seventeenth, early morning, flew to Athens. 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.360 They flew into Athens FBI specialises in Bradley Hall. 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:35.400 They went to Santorini where they rented a villa. 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.600 June eighteenth, took ferry to Santorini. 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.360 We have photos of the villa. In the view from 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.080 the villa, it was, it was stunning. We also have 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.159 photos of them in the hot tub with what appeared 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:48.040 to be narcotics. 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:49.240 We also have. 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.120 Photos of them with women, some in the hot tub, 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.839 some and other locales. So basically it looked like these 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.559 five or six MSS officers who were on this trip 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:01.719 were a bunch of lads out. 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:02.760 On the lash. 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:04.480 To use the British term for right. They were there 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.440 to party, so that if anybody was watching them, they 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.640 wouldn't look like a group of MSS officers there to 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.359 do spycraft. They looked like a bunch of guys doing 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:17.040 a big European trip where you you drink, you corrouse, 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:17.520 et cetera. 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.719 The lads out on the lash, as Bradley would say, 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:26.520 partied their way through Venice, Verona, Florence Rome. 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.080 And ultimately, after five days of what we call a 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.360 surveillance detection route, the team determined they were clean. They 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.280 bought tickets for cash at the airport June. 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.480 Twenty second through to Paris and. 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:42.200 Went straight to the Paris Air Show. We could see 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.320 which gate they entered. We know they spent a lot 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:45.840 of time around an area where the one of the 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.120 US Predator drones was set up. We have a couple 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.320 images of that. They had at least two meetings with 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.320 other individuals, either at the Paris Airshow or around the 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:58.040 Paris air Show, and that's what they were there to do. Ultimately, 0:06:58.160 --> 0:06:59.799 they were there to mix and mingle, and they certainly 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:00.600 seem like they did. 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:03.920 On top of all that, Shoe had another job to do. 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.000 He had to go shop it for his boss. 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.200 One briefcase, two LaCosta T shirts. 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.120 For his boss's boss or his boss's boss's wife, one 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:14.680 new meal. 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:17.600 Purse, one Zanga belt, one Amblo. 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:22.160 Brislet and for the Big Boss. Shoe really splashed out two. 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:26.320 Bottles in the toll, one Zaya clutch, one box of macaron. 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.760 He spends thousands of euros and yet when he gets home, 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:32.960 it's clear his gifts don't get the reaction he was 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:33.480 hoping for. 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.520 When to work, gave on all the gifts didn't buy enough. 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.600 It was a small enough thing, but it bugged him 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:46.880 and it was one of a growing number of indignities 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.040 he suffered. In twenty seventeen, the year marks the kind 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.280 of inflection point for Shoe. He begins to struggle at 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:56.720 work and also at home, but that same year he 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.600 would get introduced to a new source, the kind of 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:01.720 source that could change everything. 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.480 This is going to be the highlight of Shoe's career. 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:14.640 This is going to be the recruitment that is going 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.520 to set him aside from all of his peers. This 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.720 is big. This is a very big thing. 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:26.080 From Bloomberg News and iHeart Podcasts. This is the Sixth Bureau. 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:37.560 I'm Jordan Robertson and I'm Drake Bennett. Throughout twenty seventeen, 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:41.079 Shoe's personal life was in the dumps. She really starts 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.360 to sound like he's stuck reading his diary. You can 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.000 see him questioning his life choices. 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:52.640 May nineteenth, feeling agitated in the past couple of days, 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:58.520 feeling like I'm abandoned by the whole world. Work, relationship, money, 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:00.640 none of it is going well. 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.800 On the romance front. He'd been spending a lot of 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.280 time with one of his mistresses, someone he worked with 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.240 at the MSS, actually the one he called Peach in 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:13.880 his diary. But now things with Peach were taking a turn. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.640 April twenty eighth, message to the Peach, but didn't receive 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:21.480 a nding reply. Not going to reach out anymore speaking 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.960 of a relationship, Peach obviously doesn't care anymore, not even 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:27.120 replying to messages. 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:29.160 Breakup is real. 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:33.600 As the summer wore on, things only got worse. 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:39.560 August seventeenth, Peach heartless, saw me in the rain yesterday morning, 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.440 walked by with her umbrella without stopping. She did not 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.480 sit next to me at the breakfast either. I reached 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.280 out to her on which had after she was very 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:53.600 cold toward me. I feel like I was humiliating myself. 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:57.239 Things weren't going any better for you financially. 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.440 I lost it so much in star market, and I 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:03.439 tucked myself into a financial hole. 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:09.000 What a shame? Feeling so terrible? When does it all end? 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.880 Work also sucked. Shoe's boss, joh Rom had been a 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.440 mentor to him for years, but now Shoe felt taken 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:20.559 for granted much twenty. 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:26.040 Sevens John rejected new receipt. Today such an ungrateful person 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.559 has no shame. I will have my revenge. 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.440 He would get promoted and then be berated. He would 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:36.520 have an amazing case and get a beautiful end of 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:38.480 the year review and then be crushed a week later 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.439 because a decimal point was wrong on a receipt. 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.360 April twenty eight, relationship with Jaw has dropped a below 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:46.320 freezing point. 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.600 John underminded me, I need to adjust my. 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:54.000 Mindset so that that yo yoing between your great and 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.160 you're terrible clearly was having an impact on his state 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.720 of mind. 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.320 During dinner job when nuts and said I'm poor at 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:04.640 a management draw has tended against me. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:05.440 Just like that. 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.480 I think my relationship with him would never be the 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:12.559 same again having a leader like this? What's the point? 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.160 Life wasn't where he wanted it to be, even though 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.120 compared to your average person, to be that high up 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.200 within the MSS in China would seem like a pretty, 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:24.040 you know, auspicious life. But my interpretation was that he 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:24.760 didn't see it that. 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:27.320 Way and low point in my life. 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:31.600 Nothing works my way and the liears get their ways. 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.520 But amidst all of this disappointment and humiliation, Shu did 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:45.840 still have a job to do. He had hacks to 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.240 manage and bosses to deal with. He had to keep 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.480 finding new engineers to come give talks in Nanjing, and 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:53.520 if you could find a really good one, it could 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.840 turn his life, or at least his career around. He 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.120 could get back on his feet. 0:11:58.920 --> 0:11:59.480 And he did. 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.440 And it wasn't by hacking into a computer or breaking 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.480 into a hotel room or doing some special spy thing. 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.760 It was through a tool you've probably used yourself, something 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:11.240 extremely ordinary. 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:12.080 LinkedIn. 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:18.400 Yeah. LinkedIn also known as one of the most boring 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.559 places on the Internet, but not to the MSS. 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:23.960 It was like a candy store. 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.560 This is James Olsen, the former CIA officer we've been 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.599 hearing from. He was also an expert witness for the 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:33.280 prosecution in Shoe's case. 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:39.640 LinkedIn is a wonderful spotting tool for the MSS. 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:43.400 A spotting tool, meaning they go hang out on LinkedIn 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.280 looking for sources for people who have access to the 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:51.280 information they want, like aviation engineers, and with LinkedIn. 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.560 We're handing it to them. They've got their resumes on there, 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.360 they brag about the projects they've been working on. It's 0:12:57.400 --> 0:12:58.200 all right there. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.360 And that's where Shoe or someone at the sixth Bureau 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.520 spotted the profile of a GE engineer named David John. 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:13.120 He had access to very sensitive programs at G Aviation, 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.479 working on this composite material, this lightweight technology. 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.080 Remember that huge engine we stood next to at the 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:24.160 Paris Air Show, the GE nine X. Well, part of 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.640 what's so special about that engine is that key elements 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.800 of it are made out of carbon fiber composite. When 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.120 you make something out of carbon fiber, you can make 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:34.440 it both lighter and stronger than if you've made it 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.480 out of most any other material, say metal. And as 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:41.160 you can imagine, details about how GE Aerospace uses carbon 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.960 fiber are kept very tight. They're inaccessible even to most 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.520 of the company's employees, but not to David Jun. 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:55.280 And that's why when Shu saw this LinkedIn profile, he said, Bingo, Jackpot, 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.800 exactly what they want, and I'm going to go get it. 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:02.960 David was born and raised in a rural village in China. 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.880 Being Chinese is also part of what made him an 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:09.200 attractive target for the MSS. The MSS is known to 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:13.000 specifically target Chinese people living and working abroad, people who 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:15.920 might be susceptible to appeals to their sense of patriotism 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.400 or threats to their family members back home. David was 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:22.840 the first in his family to go to college, then 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.920 moved to the US to get his engineering PhD in composites. 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.240 He moved to Cincinnati in twenty twelve to work for 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:32.280 what was then called ge Aviation and focused on a 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:35.800 part of the engine called the fan containment case. We 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:37.880 really wanted to talk to David John for the series. 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:40.440 Drake and I have approached him multiple times over the 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.200 years we've been reporting on this case. He's declined to 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.040 talk to us each time. So there's a lot we 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:49.240 don't know about him, but we do know LinkedIn is 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.440 part of how Shoe and the MSS spotted him, and 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:53.600 we know what they did next. 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:01.760 They reach out. Obviously, shoot doesn't say Hi, I'm from 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:03.760 the MSS, and I'd love to explore how we can 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.320 collaborate to serve China. The MSS is smarter than that, 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.280 so Shu doesn't even make the first contact. Instead, it's 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:12.760 a dean at n UAA. 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:17.400 Hello, I am sorry to bother you i phone. I'm 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:21.440 in charter of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office at 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:25.800 the Ninegenia University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. I learned from 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:29.320 your alliging resume that you have accumulated wealth. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:34.720 The MSS recruited a respected person to make the first contact. 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:40.840 That added to the likelihood that Xing would be impressed, 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.720 would be flattered if someone of that stature would be 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:45.120 reaching out to him personally. 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:49.880 Many eminent talents like you Chen Poune continued come to 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.360 NUAA to share their expertise. 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.520 And UAA can pay for the cost of your trip 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.920 back to China for the exchange. If you're interested, please 0:15:58.920 --> 0:15:59.960 feel free to contact me. 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:04.480 David, it seems was flattered by the invitation. 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:08.200 Chian for how are you? Thank you for email. I've 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:11.640 been working at GE for over ten years after graduating 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.320 with a doctorate in the US. I first worked for 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:18.640 five years at G'SRND department, then into New twelve. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.080 Plus he already happened to be planning an upcoming trip 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:21.840 to China at. 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.320 The end of May to see my parents. My hometown 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.600 is in Krujo when I passed by Nanjing. If time allows, 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:30.800 I am happy to pay a visit to Nuaa. I 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.160 can confirm once my itinery is finalized. 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.880 The emails between David and Chen continue through the spring 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.080 into early May, and as they do, Chen gets more 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.280 and more specific about what he wants David to share 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:44.880 on his talk, and even what it could be called. 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:51.320 Application design and manufacturing techniques of compositive materials and aircraft 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.080 engines composites. 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.200 David's careful in his response. He says he can't discuss 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.440 any proprietary information from his work, but before he goes 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.320 to China he does something that will come back to 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:08.320 haunt him. He copies about forty one thousand files off 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.440 his GE work computer, and then, as he's getting ready 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.320 for his trip, he transfers five of those files onto 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:17.320 his personal computer, the one he's planning to take to China. 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:19.959 At no point does he mention any of this to 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:21.040 anyone at GE. 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.160 On June first, twenty seventeen, David jun arrives in Nanjing. 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.200 Chen Fung picks him up and takes him to his hotel, 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:36.240 which is on the NUAA campus. The next morning, over 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:39.280 tea in the hotel lobby, Chen Fun introduces him to 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.919 a man who he says works with the university. He 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:46.240 says the man's name is Chu Huei. Surprise, surprise, it's 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:50.159 Chu Yen June. The group goes to lunch, then David 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:53.520 gives his presentation to a room of about twenty five people. 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.439 Jiang gave the talk, course raved about it, how smart 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.720 he was, and they're asking questions. 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:03.240 But David doesn't answer most of the questions because he 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:05.480 says they touch on sensitive ge work. 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:08.920 They're kind of probing. They're seeing how far he will go, 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:15.120 whether he is someone who can be induced to talk 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:16.000 more than he should. 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:21.800 After the presentation, Chen Fong hands David cash three five 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.320 hundred dollars. He says it's for the talk and to 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:29.960 cover his travel. At dinner that night, Chew huey aksu 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:33.200 Yen June presents David with two boxes of fancy tea. 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:36.479 They say they're goodbyes, and David heads back to the US. 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:41.040 We reached out to NUAA and Chenfog for comment, but 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:42.000 neither responded. 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.399 Once David is home, Chew Huay messages him over wee 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.199 chat to thank David for his talk. He invites him 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:50.880 to come back soon. 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.760 You're welcome to visit Nuanja again next year. 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.600 Six months pass, Hue goes to the Paris Air Show, 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:00.760 Peach breaks his heart. His boss continue used to write him, 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.880 and then in December, David JHN says he's coming back 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:05.359 to China. 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.560 Hello, department, had Chew, It's been a while since we 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:09.240 last caught up. 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.040 David says he has another trip book and he seems 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:15.600 eager to give another talk at NUAA. Shoe seems eager too, 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.200 he responds just a few hours later, I. 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.000 Will try my best to arrange it for you. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:23.320 Come Starbin Ninjin and we can't have a chat, well 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:23.920 come back. 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:29.480 As the messages continue, David repeatedly asks Shu what material 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:31.920 he should bring with him to China. He no longer 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:36.520 seems concerned about revealing sensitive GE information. Instead, his main 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:41.040 concern seems to be giving Shoe what he wants for 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.879 Shoe just had to feel like a huge break. He 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.800 had an enthusiastic source inside GE working on one of 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:51.800 the company's most coveted technologies, a potential gold mine. But 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:57.240 David John wasn't writing these messages himself. He was being 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:58.240 told what to say. 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:03.280 We had to have the communication look authentic. 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.439 And at this point of course they're actually talking to 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.080 Bradley Hull, FBI Special. 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.040 Agent Bradley Hall. 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:13.040 We had to make the story seem as accurate and 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.560 truthful as possible. I want it for my counterpart in 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:18.959 the MSS to see and to read and think it's 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:22.320 still my guy. He's still working for me. The goal 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:25.440 of a good intel operation is to talk to the officer, 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:26.640 you know, spy the spy. 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:31.600 David was now working with the FBI. That's who Shoey 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.560 and June was talking with, and he was falling for it. 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:38.240 That's when you cast your line to see if they 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.280 if they'll at least nibble, and they bit. 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:50.520 On the next episode. 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:54.959 Obviously, the guy's kind of in shock to FBI. 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:56.159 People come walking in. 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:58.439 So when I first thought, I wasn't sure what it 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:00.480 was because it was a Mandarin and I saw a 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.719 face in a military uniform, which makes it government. 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.399 You're going head to head with the very smart people 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.439 on both ends and each side has to be smarter 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:14.480 than the other, and I can just see the jubilation 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:22.840 with the FBI that he's coming our way.