The CIA's Failures in China (2010–12)

Over a two-year period, Chinese intelligence systematically dismantled the CIA's spy network within the country, “liberating” or imprisoning as many as 20 informants. U.S. officials were initially unable to determine if the compromise was a result of a mole, cyber-espionage, or poor operational security. A former CIA case officer, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, was later identified as a suspect. 

Let me put this really sad and bad spy story in a six-scene short film script.

SCENE 1 – A BEIJING CAF?, 2010 

A grey winter morning. Smog thick as soup. A young Chinese bureaucrat—codename “Willow”—sits with a CIA handler, a bland man in a bland coat.

HANDLER

(low voice)

Same channel, same schedule. If you get nervous, burn the phone.

WILLOW

(smiles thinly)

If I get nervous, I burn myself.

They laugh like two people who both know their jokes aren't funny.

SCENE 2 – LANGLEY, VIRGINIA

A windowless conference room. A PowerPoint slide glows: “China Ops: Secure Comms.”

TECH ANALYST

Our Middle East interim system is airtight. Nobody's cracked it there.

CASE OFFICER

We're not in the desert.

TECH ANALYST

Firewall, sandstorm—same difference(!)

Someone chuckles. Someone else rolls their eyes. The slide changes to “Next Steps.”

SCENE 3 – MINISTRY OF STATE SECURITY, BEIJING

A fluorescent-lit office. Two Chinese counterintelligence officers study a screen of encrypted chatter.

OFFICER 1

They really think this is hidden?

OFFICER 2

Americans love shortcuts. Fast food, fast cars, fast betrayals.

OFFICER 1

Let's order takeout. We'll eat while we dismantle their empire.

They grin. Somewhere a kettle whistles.

SCENE 4 – A SERIES OF ARRESTS, 2011–12

Montage:

? A mid-level official being dragged from a banquet while the duck is still steaming.

? A scientist being grabbed at a bus stop; his briefcase hitting the pavement, oranges spilling like tiny suns.

? A quiet courtyard where a man being shot in front of his colleagues. The gunshot hardly echoes.

Voice-over of a U.S. intelligence officer:

One by one, the lights went out. Eighteen? Twenty? We stopped counting after a dozen bodies.

SCENE 5 – BACK IN LANGLEY

A mole-hunt room filled with stale coffee and paranoia.

FBI AGENT

(With a forced smile)

Names leaked. Systems breached. Either we've got a mole…or we built a trap for ourselves.

CIA SUPERVISOR

(With a sarcastic smile)

Maybe both. Why not ruin our own day and get betrayed?

Someone mutters about a former officer named Jerry Lee. Files pile up like snowdrifts no one wants to shovel.

SCENE 6 – AFTERMATH, 2013 AND BEYOND

A small memorial corner. No plaques, just memory. Two case officers talk in whispers.

OFFICER A

Rebuilding's gonna take a decade. Maybe more.

OFFICER B

Can you rebuild ghosts?

OFFICER A

We'll try. Director loves a comeback story.

Epilogue – Voice-over

A dry but deceptively cheerful narrator, the kind who sells breakfast cereal or nuclear secrets.

The Great F...king Lessons of 2010–12  

Three NOTs:

? Not to trust a “temporary” comms system like it's Fort Knox.

? Not to let a disgruntled ex-officer waltz off with classified info.

? Not to underestimate a government that literally invented the game of strategy.

The State Security folks didn't just catch spies. They turned executions into TED Talks:

“Today's topic—how to discourage treason in under five seconds.”

Meanwhile in Langley, analysts were filing away lessons they learned:

? A mole is like mold—if you smell it, you're already breathing it.

? If you think you're untouchable, you're already in someone's crosshairs.

Years later, some of the surviving assets still sit in cells. Some are gone---no gravestones, no headlines.

And the CIA? They say they've rebuilt.

But everyone in the game knows this: ghosts don't file retirement papers; they're now busy haunting Langley.

Closing Shot

A night street in Beijing. Neon flickers. A lone figure slips into the crowd. Maybe a spy, maybe just someone late for noodles. The camera lingers until the figure disappears.

--- renqiulan 

Open sources:

South China Morning Post

Global Security 

Foreign Policy 

Wikipedia 

Time