“China’s Corporate Spy War” – with CNBC’s Eamon Javers 

Summary

Eamon Javers (Twitter, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter, LinkedIn) to discuss China’s Corporate Spy War. Eamon is the Senior Washington correspondent at CNBC. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Why go after corporate secrets? 
• What’s at stake for the United States 
• The case of Yanjun Xu and GE Aviation
• Military implications of economic espionage

Reflections

• The innovation nation
• Simple twists of fate

And much, much more …

***FULL SHOWNOTES AVAILABLE HERE***

Episode Notes

This week on SpyCast, Andrew is joined by CNBC’s Senior Washington Correspondent Eamon Javers to discuss his new documentary, China’s Corporate Spy War. 

Quotes of the Week

“I don't think people in corporate America knew that, fully understood the scale of the threat. They thought this was kind of an annoyance like shoplifting is, and that you kind of just build in some procedures and there's some sunk costs associated with that, and you move on. What these intelligence guys were describing was an entirely different threat. This was the elimination of major American brands from the global marketplace.” - Eamon Javers.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East vs. West with Calder Walton (2023) 
• The Counterintelligence Chief with FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler (2023)
• Trafficking Data: The Digital Struggle with China with Aynne Kokas (2023)
• The FBI & Cyber with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran, Part 1 (2022)
• The FBI & Cyber with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran, Part 2 (2022)
• Dealing with Russia – A Conversation with Counterintelligence Legend Jim Olson (2022) 

*Beginner Resources*

• What is Corporate Espionage?, A. T. Tunggal, UpGuard (2023) [Article]
• Timeline: U.S.-China Relations, Council on Foreign Relations (n.d.) [Timeline]
• A Tale of High Stakes Corporate Espionage, Bloomberg (2023) [7:44 video]

***FULL SHOWNOTES AVAILABLE HERE***

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• SPIES: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West, C. Walton (Simon & Schuster, 2023)
• The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage, M. Hvistendahl (Riverhead Books, 2020) 
• To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence, J. Olson (GUP, 2019)
• Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage, E. Javers (HarperCollins, 2010) 

Primary Sources 

• A Survey of Reported Chinese Espionage, 2000 to the Present, CSIS (2023) 
• Justice Department Announces Five Cases as Part of Recently Launched Disruptive Technology Strike Force, U.S. Department of Justice (2023) 
• Chinese Government Intelligence Officer Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Espionage Crimes, Attempting to Steal Trade Secrets From Cincinnati Company, U.S. Department of Justice (2022) 
• Executive Summary - China: The Risk to Corporate America, FBI (2019) 
• Economic Espionage Act (1996) 

*Wildcard Resource*

• The Second Letter from Père d’Entrecolles to Father Orry (1722) 
• The art of porcelain making and selling was mastered under the Qing Dynasty. The West got curious and knew the form of pottery could be profitable to produce on their own. Because of the secrets shared by this Jesuit priest, China’s monopoly on porcelain production quickly toppled and the practice was spread across Europe.

***FULL SHOWNOTES AVAILABLE HERE***

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