Big Take Asia The Sixth Bureau Episode 6: Nothing Is Holy
Mar 20, 2026
Alan Kohler, a former FBI counterintelligence official, offers sharp perspective on the fallout from Xu Yanjun’s arrest. Short scenes cover phone calls that hint at Xu, arrests in his network, a prisoner swap, debates over tradeoffs in intelligence, and how human error and China’s tech rise reshape spycraft.
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Unexpected Live Call From Xu's Number
- Bloomberg reporters called numbers linked to Xu Yanjun and reached a line that picked up and stayed silent before hanging up.
- The caller repeated “Who are you?” in Mandarin and hung up after being told Bloomberg was calling, suggesting it was likely Xu or someone local using his number.
Undercover FBI Replaced Xu And Caught Ji
- An undercover FBI agent posed as Ji Chao Choon's new MSS handler after Xu's arrest and lured Ji into meetings.
- The sting ended with an FBI arrest in a hotel room after three meetings, leading to Ji's 8-year sentence.
China Initiative Sparked Controversial Cases
- The Justice Department's China Initiative led to many controversial prosecutions of Chinese-descended academics, often for paperwork violations.
- That campaign looked like ethnic profiling and was formally ended by the Biden administration.