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So, a few items tucked within this article... https://www.axios.com/china-spy-california-politicians-9d2dfb99-f839-4e00-8bd8-59dec0daf589.html?utm_campaign=organic&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=twitter
"Through campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and 
romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors,
Fang was able to gain proximity to political power"
"Even though U.S. officials do not believe Fang received or passed on classified information, the case "was a big deal, because there were some really, really sensitive people that were caught up" in the intelligence network"
"At least two separate sexual interactions with elected officials, including one of these Midwestern mayors, were caught on FBI electronic surveillance of Fang, according to two intelligence officials"
"Fang's case shows how a single determined individual, allegedly working for Beijing, can gain access to sensitive U.S. political circles."
"Keeping tabs on Chinese diaspora communities is a top priority of China’s intelligence services, U.S. officials said..."
"Chinese Americans find themselves in a difficult position in 2020, being squeezed both by influence campaigns from the Chinese government and a rise in anti-Chinese racism in the United States."
"It's common for Chinese student association presidents to communicate frequently with Chinese consular officials."
"U.S. intelligence officials believe China's spy services have become more aggressive and emboldened, including in their U.S.-focused influence and political intelligence-gathering operations."
"The MSS [Chinese spy services] has a unit dedicated solely to political intelligence and influence operations in California."
"U.S. officials first noticed Fang through surveillance they were conducting on a 
different person — a suspected MSS officer working undercover as a diplomat in the San Francisco consulate, a current U.S. counterintelligence official said."
"Bureau officials said Fang’s activities were part of a "long game play" targeting local politicians, Harrison recalled. The FBI told him the Chinese government’s strategy is "to strike up a relationship with you and see if you move up the line...""
"The case demonstrates China’s strategy of cultivating relationships that may take years or even decades to bear fruit. The Chinese Communist Party knows that today’s mayors and city council members are tomorrow’s governors and members of Congress."
Beijing "is engaged in a highly sophisticated malign foreign influence campaign [involving] subversive, undeclared, criminal, or coercive attempts to sway our government’s policies, distort public discourse, and undermine confidence in our [democracy]" https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/the-threat-posed-by-the-chinese-government-and-the-chinese-communist-party-to-the-economic-and-national-security-of-the-united-states
