Telling tales: brother of disgraced Chinese presidential aide Ling Jihua defects to US and reveals state secrets, says report
American news website Washington Free Beacon also claims undercover mainland agents in the US have been trying to capture or kill Ling Wancheng, who has been hiding in the country
The younger brother of the disgraced former presidential aide Ling Jihua (令計劃) has reportedly defected to the United States and revealed some of China’s biggest state secrets – including those surrounding its nuclear weapons.
The news website Washington Free Beacon reported on Wednesday that undercover Chinese agents in the US had been trying to capture or kill Ling Wancheng, who was suspected of one of the biggest intelligence breaches of the past 30 years.
Ling Wancheng had revealed secrets involving procedures for Chinese leaders when using nuclear weapons, including the release codes for nuclear armaments and steps taken in preparing nuclear forces for attack, the report said.
READ MORE: O brother where art thou: China in contact with US over extraditing brother of disgraced presidential aide
Other secrets he revealed included details about the Chinese leadership and its facilities, including the compound in Beijing known as Zhongnanhai, which is the headquarters of China’s central government and also the residence of the most senior Chinese leaders.
This information would be valuable to US internet spies, specifically for cyber intelligence operations that targeted the secretive Chinese leadership, the report said.
The Chinese government has been negotiating with the US over Ling Wancheng’s repatriation.
The report said the defection of Ling Wancheng – a businessman and the youngest brother of Ling Jihua, who was a top aide to former president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) – occurred last summer after his brother was investigated as part of President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) anti-corruption campaign.
Ling Jihua was reported to have breached the Communist Party’s confidentiality rules and committed offences including stealing official secrets, state media reported.
He held the post of chief of the secretariat of the Politburo under former president Hu until 2012, which had given him access to the most sensitive and confidential information that was available exclusively to senior Chinese leaders.
READ MORE: The rise and fall of brother of Ling Jihua, ex-aide to former president Hu Jintao
Ling Jihua had secretly obtained about 2,700 internal documents and given them to his brother, Ling Wancheng, Washington Free Beacon reported.
The same report, citing unidentified intelligence officials, said that Ling Wancheng would have in his possession the most privileged information of any Chinese national that had defected to the US in more than 30 years.
Xu Guangyu, a retired major general and senior researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said even if there had been an intelligence leak, China would be able to manage the fallout.
“I am sure the state security and military authorities can handle it well. There are always response plans to deal with such things,” said Yu.
Ling Wancheng had been kept at a secretive location where he was being debriefed by US intelligence agencies since last autumn, the report said.
Chinese officials regarded the case as a criminal matter, while the US government was treating the defection as an intelligence matter, which made Ling Wancheng’s repatriation unlikely.
Jin Canrong, a government foreign affairs adviser from Renmin University, said there would be no way for Beijing to get Ling Wancheng back unless he volunteered to come back.
“He is a US citizen and the only option for China to get Ling Wancheng back is through political negotiation, but political negotiation will be very difficult, if not impossible, in this case,” said Jin.
Secretary of State John Kerry met Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) in Beijing last week, but Ling Wancheng’s case was not discussed, the report said.
The White House, FBI, CIA, and Department of Homeland Security all declined to comment.
