Details Emerge on Chinese Spies

As a followup to the recent espionage bust in Los Angeles, I point out a pair of news stories linked today by Matt Drudge. In one story, some details of today's indictments are revealed.

Federal officials said [Chi] Mak took computer disks from Anaheim defense contractor Power Paragon, where he was lead engineer on a sensitive research project involving propulsion systems for Navy warships.

He and his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, 62, then copied the information to CDs and delivered them to Tai Wang Mak, 56, who was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong on Oct. 28 with his wife, Fuk Heung Li, an FBI affidavit said.

From there, the brother allegedly planned to travel to Guangzhou, China, to meet a contact.

And this story discusses two decades af betrayal in more detail.

The yearlong probe is the stuff of spy shows, with FBI agents collecting evidence by digging through trash, installing a closed-circuit camera in Chi Mak's home, monitoring him at work, tapping phone lines and intercepting e-mails.

Although authorities and defense attorneys aren't commenting, an FBI agent's affidavit, a written biography of Tai Mak and interviews with neighbors paint a picture of four people who lived seemingly normal lives.

"I'm in total shock,'' said Traci Garrido, 42, a high school teacher and mother of three who has lived next door to Chi Mak and Fuk Heung Li on Blandwood Road in Downey for 20 years.

"I always thought they were private people - friendly, but keeping to themselves,'' Garrido said. "But this? I never would have thought this in my wildest dreams.''

...

Although the affidavit discusses only recent events, a federal prosecutor said in court that Chi Mak may have been stealing government secrets for as long as the past 22 years.

Once again, this post illustrates the problem Chinese espionage poses.

-- CAV