CIA, DoD, and Other Foreign Intelligence Involvement
Important Note (as of July 27, 2025, 07:45 China Standard Time): I still have at least between 20 and 50 important entries to add to the “Timeline of Events and Open Letters” section.
It was only on April 28, 2025, that I began publishing the still partially redacted version of the complaint I filed with the U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, along with other related documents.
The timeline is currently cluttered with entries that are no longer the most important, but I intend to leave them as part of the record. Starting from July 27, 2025, 07:45 China Standard Time, I will try my best to document 100 percent of my communications with anyone directly or indirectly related to this case. For transparency, I will publish as much as possible, although I may redact certain names from public view, especially the identities of confirmed or suspected U.S. intelligence operatives currently operating in the People’s Republic of China.
My first priority is to add several key events to the timeline. My second priority is to create two sub-timelines:
- A detailed chronological listing of all events
- A condensed version summarizing the case in nine or fewer main events, to help readers quickly grasp the core facts, while allowing those who are interested to explore further
In the meantime, if you are interested in the involvement of U.S. intelligence in this case, you may want to review the following documents:
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My formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, filed on December 13, 2023: 🔗 https://www.ecthrwatch.org/timeline-of-events-and-open-letters/second-complaint-to-the-dod-oig-hotline-2023-12-13/
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The acknowledgment of receipt, dated December 14, 2023, which contains a typographical error suggesting it was not just an automated response: 🔗 https://www.ecthrwatch.org/timeline-of-events-and-open-letters/reply-from-the-dod-oig-hotline-2023-12-14/
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My attempts to avoid violating the U.S. Espionage Act by reaching out to U.S. Senators for help:
- Letter to Senator Mitt Romney, March 8, 2024: 🔗 https://www.ecthrwatch.org/timeline-of-events-and-open-letters/formal-notice-sent-to-senator-mitt-romney-2024-03-08/
- Letter to Senator Chuck Grassley, March 8, 2024: 🔗 https://www.ecthrwatch.org/timeline-of-events-and-open-letters/formal-notice-sent-to-senator-chuck-grassley-2024-03-08/ (Their staff acknowledged receipt of my communications, but did not provide any explanations, most likely because they are not legally allowed to do so)
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The first time I might have violated the U.S. Espionage Act was when I contacted British MP and former Financial Times journalist Yuan Yang: 🔗 https://www.ecthrwatch.org/timeline-of-events-and-open-letters/open-letter-to-british-mp-yuan-yang-2024-10-13/ I cannot say for certain whether this constituted a violation. But I was under extraordinary pressure. It felt like a loaded gun had been placed on my head, and my family in China was potentially at risk. I acted out of desperation and a sense of duty.
Although many documents are still missing, this early communication may provide insight:
- Email to U.S. intelligence contacts in August 2019 regarding McDonald’s and extradition: 🔗 https://www.ecthrwatch.org/timeline-of-events-and-open-letters/email-to-us-intelligence-friends-mcdonalds-extradition-august-2019/ This entry will soon be followed by more explanations concerning our interactions with confirmed U.S. intelligence operatives, identified as Subject Number 2 and Subject Number 3.
As for China, I began writing a thread on X (formerly Twitter) that I have not yet finished and may never fully complete. You can read it here: 🔗 https://x.com/ECtHRwatch/status/1938917271365091426
In point 11 of that thread, I mention a significant event, which could of course be a coincidence. On April 8, a military aircraft, an Airbus A319 from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), 34th Air Division, landed in Taiyuan. This occurred one day after I published this post: 🔗 https://x.com/ECtHRwatch/status/1909246381211959381
Then, on May 30, 2025, Chinese authorities visited me at my home and asked me to close a website that had been active since 2022 without any prior issue. Two out of the four men who came were dressed in civilian clothing. One of them appeared confused when I asked for his badge number. I suspect he may be working for the Ministry of State Security or Chinese military counter-espionage. However, he claimed during a phone call on March 23, 2025, that he was with the Entry-Exit Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
If you go back to this post: 🔗 https://x.com/ECtHRwatch/status/1940564931117797818 you will start to understand how this may all be connected.
My wife and I lived within the residential compound of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shanxi Committee Organ Apartments (山西省政协机关公寓). This location is historically linked to a scandal that shook China in 2012. It is reportedly connected to the death of Ling Gu (令谷), the son of Ling Jihua (令计划), who died in a Ferrari crash in March 2012, at a time when his father was serving as chief of staff to President Hu Jintao.
- Guardian article on the crash: 🔗 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/03/china-scandal-fatal-ferrari-crash
- My related post: 🔗 https://x.com/ECtHRwatch/status/1940555166933307669
Ling Jihua’s older brother, Ling Zhengce (令政策), also held a senior position in the CPPCC at the provincial level in Shanxi. This makes their family’s political influence in the region quite clear.
- My post about Ling Zhengce: 🔗 https://x.com/ECtHRwatch/status/1940561589897515049
- Reuters article on Ling Zhengce’s indictment for corruption: 🔗 https://www.reuters.com/article/world/china-charges-brother-of-former-aide-to-retired-president-over-graft-idUSKCN11O0BE/
Their youngest brother, Ling Wancheng (令完成), fled to the United States during Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown. According to credible sources, he took with him highly sensitive Chinese government secrets. While his brothers fell, he defected and betrayed China.
- My post on Ling Wancheng: 🔗 https://x.com/ECtHRwatch/status/1940564931117797818
- SCMP article titled “Telling tales: brother of disgraced Chinese presidential aide Ling Jihua reportedly defects to US”: 🔗 https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1909266/telling-tales-brother-disgraced-chinese-presidential
The first sentence of that article reads: “The younger brother of the disgraced former presidential aide Ling Jihua (令计划) has reportedly defected to the United States and revealed some of China’s biggest state secrets – including those surrounding its nuclear weapons.”
Perhaps all of this is a coincidence. But if you read carefully the complaint I filed with the DoD OIG, ask yourself how likely it is that there are so many coincidences.
The most important admission, for me personally, came when Subject Number 2, a confirmed U.S. intelligence operative, acknowledged his role during our meeting in Taiyuan on July 14, 2023. I fully understand that this is, at this stage, my word against his. He could backpedal at any time, just as Subject Number 1 eventually did. But I know what happened. I know what he said. And I know the risks that my wife and I were exposed to as a result.
At the time of this writing, I still want to believe that not all American intelligence operatives are bad people. Maybe each country’s intelligence operatives are simply doing their job, and part of that job is to ask others to betray their own country.
However, I currently believe that some individuals within the U.S. intelligence community may have betrayed the American people. By “American people,” I also include American businesses, even though they are legal entities and not human beings. What happens next in the United States is an open question. It is possible that the U.S. intelligence community initially failed to realize that McDonald’s had also defrauded American citizens and American companies.
As for France, I currently believe, based on the evidence I have, that acts of corruption, at least passive corruption, and more seriously, potential acts of treason as defined by the French Penal Code, have likely been committed by high-level officials and magistrates. As a result, I intend to lodge a criminal complaint against unknown persons for corruption and treason. This complaint is intended to trigger an investigation into the role of French intelligence operatives who were aware of the situation, as well as the ministers and possibly the President of France, who, in my view, probably knew as well.
I sometimes feel that intelligence operatives are cold, soulless monsters. I have struggled deeply with the question of whether they are good people or bad people, or whether, as is more likely, some are good and some are not.