Academics ignore espionage at their peril. As long as American universities conduct vital research, place alumni and faculty in the upper echelons of government and business, and—perhaps most important—remain a bastion of access and international culture in a fearful, locked-down world, they will attract attention from intelligence services. Ultimately, unless they become more vigilant, spy scandals could undermine their values, tarnish their reputations, and spur greater scrutiny of their governance, admissions, and hiring.
Alternatively, universities could recognize these dangers and summon the will to curb foreign and domestic espionage. They could adopt the 1977 Harvard prohibition on students and faculty spying or covertly recruiting for the CIA, extend it to intelligence services worldwide, and punish violators with dismissal, expulsion, or degree revocation. They could raise campus awareness of deceptive recruiting and research theft, and make it a priority to investigate complaints. They could declare themselves no-spy zones, where students and professors of all nationalities would devote themselves to learning without being shadowed by deceptive pitches and purloined research. Such a ban might be hard to enforce, but even if universities couldn’t become completely spy-free sanctuaries, they could at least make intelligence services think twice before infiltrating them.
* * *
EACH YEAR SEES a swelling in the ranks of international students in the United States, and of American students going to college abroad. U.S. universities have eighty-two foreign campuses, more than twice as many as any other country. However, terrorism fears, tensions with China and Russia, and nativist sentiment could inhibit further growth. Over the objections of leading universities, the Obama administration proposed in 2016 to bar foreign students from corporate-funded defense research in fields such as munitions, nuclear engineering, and satellite technology. The wave of nativist fervor that propelled Donald Trump to the presidency could lead to more sweeping restrictions.
That would be a shame, because higher education is one of the few industries in which the United States still leads the world. International students not only fill academia’s coffers but also provide cheap labor for its research. U.S. graduate programs couldn’t survive without them. After earning doctorates in science and engineering, about two-thirds stay in the United States for at least five years, bringing new energy and ideas to American companies rather than competitors overseas. When China began sending students to the United States in 1978, Deng Xiaoping expected that 90 percent would come home. Instead, after the Tiananmen Square crackdown, most Chinese recipients of U.S. doctorates stayed put. From that perspective, China and other countries have little choice but to spy on American universities; they need to compensate for losing so much talent.
I observed the brain drain firsthand one morning in April 2016. Benefiting like a spy from academic openness, I slipped through an unlocked door into the lobby of a Duke science building, where candidates for master’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering were displaying their final projects to examiners.
Almost all of the budding engineers were Chinese. Two floors above, in Professor David Smith’s lab, Ruopeng Liu had appropriated his colleagues’ ideas. But Liu had returned to China six years before, and these graduate students seemed guileless and effervescent, especially Wankun Zhu. The daughter of economics professors, she had created a website that recommends movies for people based on their opinions of films they had seen. “Users do not need to search for new movies themselves; we can provide recommendation of movies that is highly likely to cater to their taste,” she said. She told me cheerfully that she used a mix of real and fake data, since her site wasn’t yet getting feedback.
Zhu was looking forward to starting a job with Google in June. She chose to stay in the United States, she told me, because starting salaries in Silicon Valley are higher than in China, making housing more affordable. “Also the air quality and working environment in the U.S. is better.”
Another exhibitor from China, Wen Bo, created a site to predict winners in World Cup matches, using variables such as FIFA world ranking, shots on target, possession rate, and having a superstar or not.
Zhu grew up in Yunnan Province, home of the Stone Forest, where Glenn Shriver wandered off the path. Bo planned to work for Cisco Systems Inc., curriculum provider to Thorildsplans Gymnasium in Stockholm, where Marta Rita Velázquez teaches. In the global village of academia, six degrees of separation is more than enough to find a spy.
Four Duke University researchers who worked on the ground-plane invisibility cloak, pictured in Professor David Smith’s lab: (from left) Smith, Ruopeng Liu, Jack Mock, Chunlin Ji. (Photograph courtesy of Duke University)
The invisibility cloak developed by Ruopeng Liu and other Duke University researchers. (Photograph courtesy of Duke University)
Marta Rita Velázquez’s senior picture in the Princeton yearbook. (Photograph courtesy of Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library)
Marta Rita Velázquez at Thorildsplans Gymnasium.
Marta Rita Velázquez’s house in Stockholm. The religious statuette is behind a bucket on the porch. (Photograph by Niklas Larsson)
Cuban spy Ana Belén Montes with Marty Scheina, her supervisor and chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Latin America Division (Photograph courtesy of the DIA)
The gate of the University of International Relations in Beijing (Photograph by Michael Standaert)
Xiaoxiong Yi, the Marietta College professor with ties to both the Chinese and U.S. governments who established Marietta’s partnership with the University of International Relations (Photograph courtesy of Gray Television Group, Inc.)
Glenn Duffie Shriver, second from left, during Grand Valley State University’s study-abroad program in China (Photograph courtesy of Peimin Ni)
Glenn Duffie Shriver in the traditional costume of the Yi people at a cultural pageant during the Grand Valley State University study-abroad program (Photograph courtesy of Peimin Ni)
Dajin Peng’s mother, Lixin Peng, at a 1956 education conference in Beijing. She is in the fourth row, sixth from the left (part of her face is hidden by the man in front of her). Dignitaries in the front row include Zhou Enlai, then China’s premier, and Zhu De, former commander in chief of the People’s Liberation Army. (Photograph courtesy of Dajin Peng)
Dajin Peng as a three-year old with his mother, Lixin Peng (Photograph courtesy of Dajin Peng)
Dajin Peng with his parents and sons in 1994 soon after they moved to Tampa (Photograph courtesy of Dajin Peng)
Dajin Peng’s parents in 1980, after their remarriage (Photograph courtesy of Dajin Peng)
Dajin Peng in front of the University of International Relations in 1985, when he was a graduate student there (Photograph courtesy of Dajin Peng)
Both sides of the Warren Medal presented to Graham Spanier by the CIA (Photographs courtesy of Graham Spanier)
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier (center) with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (second from left) and officials of the Applied Research Laboratory. (Photograph courtesy of Graham Spanier)
Former CIA officer Rob Simmons, who attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government under cover, in a coffeehouse in Stonington, Connecticut, where he is first selectman. (Photograph by Patrick Raycraft, courtesy of the Hartford Courant Media Group)
The late CIA officer Kenneth Moskow’s entry in the Harvard Kennedy School mid-career program’s picture book, which falsely described him as a State Department employee (Photograph courtesy of Kennedy School of Government)
University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft (Photograph courtesy of the University of South Florida)
NOTES
Please note that some of the links referenced throughout this work are no longer active.
The page numbers for the notes that appeared in the print version of this title are not in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for the relevant passages documented or discussed.
/> INTRODUCTION: THE FBI GOES TO COLLEGE
The reconstruction of the first meeting between Dajin Peng and Dianne Mercurio is primarily based on interviews with Peng and his neighbor, as well as “FBI and I,” an account that Peng wrote for his lawyer in December 2009. While Mercurio declined to be interviewed for this book, her emails to Peng and to University of South Florida administrators provide valuable information about her role.
“pending investigation into allegations”: Maria Crummett letter to Peng, April 7, 2009.
Amy Carter: The description of the Amy Carter case is based on press accounts such as Matthew L. Wald, “Amy Carter Is Acquitted Over Protest,” New York Times, April 16, 1987.
Rochester Institute of Technology: Daniel Golden, “In From the Cold: After Sept. 11, The CIA Becomes a Growing Force on Campus,” Wall Street Journal, October 4, 2002.
the growing threat of foreign espionage: Daniel Golden, “American Universities Infected by Foreign Spies Detected by FBI,” Bloomberg News, April 9, 2012.
“voluminous”: Email from Clara Williams, custodian of records, New Jersey Institute of Technology, April 28, 2015.
eight FBI personnel: Letter from Attorney Gary Potters, representing New Jersey Institute of Technology, to U.S. District Court Judge Leda Dunne Wettre, December 17, 2015: “Over two separate days, approximately eight FBI personnel reviewed NJIT’s contemplated production of documents.”
“not overly concerned”: Gregory M. Milonovich, email message to UC Davis associate chancellor and chief of staff Karl Engelbach and Lori Hubbard, assistant to the associate chancellor, May 20, 2015.
increasingly means: The full Joint Chiefs of Staff definition of intelligence is “[i]nformation and knowledge about an adversary obtained through observation, investigation, analysis, or understanding.” Other definitions are cited at: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/cia/define_intel.htm.
“strengthen ties w. classmates”: Complaint, FBI Agent Maria L. Ricci, USA v. Richard Murphy, Cynthia Murphy, et al., U.S. District Court in Manhattan, June 25, 2010, p. 36.
heading overseas: Data on Americans studying abroad and foreign students in the United States come from the Institute of International Education’s “Open Doors” reports.
more than 160: Data on American-style campuses abroad were provided by Kyle Long, a Columbia University doctoral student who is writing his dissertation on the subject.
rose by 44 percent: Data on foreign-born and Chinese-born scientists and engineers working at U.S. colleges: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System, 2003 and 2013, special tabulations (2015), Lan and Hale.
“ideal place”: FBI White Paper, “Higher Education and National Security: The Targeting of Sensitive, Proprietary, and Classified Information on Campuses of Higher Education,” April 2011.
In a 2012 poll: The poll of staff who work with international students was taken during a NAFSA: Association of International Educators webinar, “When Federal Agents Come Calling: Educating Campus Stakeholders,” March 22, 2012.
“3 primary areas”: Milonovich email message to members of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, May 19, 2014.
a friend of his: The source for this anecdote is Muhammad Sahimi, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Southern California and an expert on Iranian nuclear and political development.
“a plethora of commercial aliases”: Ishmael Jones (pseudonym of a former CIA officer), The Human Factor: Inside the CIA’s Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture (New York: Encounter Books, 2008), pp. 51–52.
“posing as a pointy-headed college professor”: Ishmael Jones, email message to author, October 11, 2014.
“most energetic and incompetent”: Jones, The Human Factor, p. 278.
“nascent nuclear program”: Ibid., p. 272.
“a scientific conference specifically designed … nuclear program”: Ibid., pp. 286–87.
The professor who pretended to help Russian intelligence requested anonymity.
1: CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY
I am grateful to Michael Standaert, a freelance journalist based in Shenzhen, and his researcher, Su Dongxia, for their assistance with this chapter. Michael interviewed Ruopeng Liu, visited Kuang-Chi’s facilities in Shenzhen, and gathered information on the anniversary party and on Shenzhen’s Peacock Program, among other contributions.
Brandishing a light saber: A video of the anniversary party can be seen at http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA4MjIxMTExNQ==&mid=417787100&idx=1&sn=0733b433d9f6e289a419e52b24e13f31&scene=4#wechat_redirect and at http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA4MjIxMTExNQ==&mid=417936634&idx=1&sn=43b2255cf6ed0253c1dc44dbc87469fa&scene=4#wechat_redirect.
“No matter how thrilling”: Translation by Kean Zhang.
“Elon Musk of China”: Wu Nan, “‘Elon Musk of China’ Aims to Give the World a Commercial Jetpack—But Is It Just Flight of Fancy?,” South China Morning Post, April 7, 2015.
an astounding total: The patent data were displayed in a video presentation at Kuang-Chi’s exhibit hall.
according to an agenda: NSHEAB Agenda, October 23–24, 2012, FBI headquarters, attached to an August 31, 2012, email message from Brenda M. Fleet to NSHEAB members. Arizona State University provided the email and attachment to the author in response to a public records request.
shown to an invitation-only audience: The FBI video was shown at the National Intellectual Property Protection Summit; see https://summit.fbi.gov/agenda.html.
whom he surveyed: John Villasenor, “Intellectual Property Awareness at Universities: Why Ignorance Is Not Bliss,” Forbes, November 27, 2012.
“the use of students”: Defense Security Service, “2015 Targeting U.S. Technologies: A Trend Analysis of Cleared Industry Reporting,” p. 21, Figure 9.
forming the backbone: Data on doctorates earned by foreign students come from a 2015 Pew Research Center study: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/18/growth-from-asia-drives-surge-in-u-s-foreign-students/.
“Foreign intelligence services”: David Szady, “The Lipman Report,” July 15, 2014.
American taxpayers fund: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 2016. Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal years 2014–2016. Detailed Statistical Tables. Arlington, VA. Available at https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/fedfunds/2014/.
“a group that played blackjack”: David Smith email message to the author, May 19, 2006.
After five years of litigation: The case was Kelly v. First Astri Corporation. For the California appellate decision, see http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1224276.html.
“I was lucky enough”: David Smith email message to the author, April 15, 2016.
“I said, ‘By the way’”: Pendry’s recollection of the San Antonio meeting is in a 2015 video, “Celebrating 15 Years of Metamaterials,” available on YouTube.
“I and my group”: David Smith email message to the author, April 14, 2016.
employed a stage magician and a filmmaker: Philip Ball, Invisible: The Dangerous Allure of the Unseen (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), pp. 2–6 and 247–53.
coauthored an article: J. B. Pendry, D. Schurig, and D. R. Smith, “Controlling Electromagnetic Fields,” Science, June 23, 2006, pp. 1780–82.
unveiled the first successful cloak: D. Schurig, J. J. Mock, B. J. Justice, S. A. Cummer, J. B. Pendry, A. F. Starr, and D. R. Smith, “Metamaterial Electromagnetic Cloak at Microwave Frequencies,” Science Express, October 19, 2006.
“can make light curve”: David R. Smith and Nathan Landy, “Hiding in Plain Sight,” New York Times, November 17, 2012.
“I would never have imagined”: David Smith email message to the author, April 15, 2016.
“very difficult to evaluate”: Ibid.
Liu began taking a train: http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-49489-278391.html.
“He conducted his research”:
Tie Jun Cui email message to the author, June 20, 2016.
“He was really more”: David Smith email message to the author, April 14, 2016.
“had been extremely paranoid”: David Smith email message to the author, April 25, 2016.
“The majority of collaborations”: David Smith email message to the author, May 19, 2016.
“By the way, I have seen”: Tie Jun Cui email message to the author, June 21, 2016.
“properly scientific”: Tie Jun Cui email message to the author, June 20, 2016.
“supposed to find”: Email message from the postdoctoral fellow to the author, April 25, 2016.
“With me believing”: David Smith email message to the author, April 25, 2016.
“Being new to all”: David Smith email message to the author, May 19, 2016.
“I’m not positive”: David Smith email message to the author, February 11, 2017.
Spy Schools Page 35
