Larry Wu-Tai Chin was but one of the many spies uncovered in 1985, which was dubbed “The Year of the Spy.” But Chin’s damaging, long-term penetration of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) makes him a standout case in espionage history.
Chin was the CIA’s top Chinese linguist, and unbeknown to his bosses at CIA, he was also China’s top spy for more than 30 years.
Chin’s reports were read by the top Chinese leaders: Mao Zedong, Zhou Inlay and Deng Xiaoping. He reported to China throughout the pivotal events of the Cold War including the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and President Nixon’s groundbreaking visit to China.
Chin was uncovered when a Chinese intelligence official in Beijing decided to become a spy for the CIA. He informed his CIA handler that China had a spy, or mole, within the CIA. He didn’t know the spy’s name, but he gave the CIA a physical description and other background information. The CIA passed the information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1983, and the FBI began a three-year investigation that ultimately led to the arrest and conviction of Chin.
Tod Hoffman’s The Spy Within: Larry Chin and China’s Penetration of the CIA (Steerforth Press) tells of the FBI’s hunt for the Chinese spy. Hoffman, an eight-year veteran of the China desk of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, interviewed the key players in the case, and he gained access to previously unreleased documents. Hoffman also provides an overview of other espionage cases and Cold War history in the book.
Chin was born and educated in Beijing. At the urging of a Chinese communist agent in 1944, he used his language skills to find work with the Americans in order to spy on them. He first penetrated the U.S. military, then the State Department, and finally the CIA. Along the way he became a U.S. citizen and acquired a top security clearance.
Ideology and loyalty to China may have initially persuaded Chin to spy on America, but he would later accept cash payments for his spying. Chin used the money to buy real estate and to finance his lavish lifestyle of women and gambling.
At his trial, Chin admitted passing on information to the Chinese while America was at war with the Vietcong and North Vietnam, but he claimed he wanted to help America and China become friends rather than enemies. The jury rejected his spin, and he was found guilty of all charges. He received a sentence of 133 years in prison and a 3.3 million-dollar fine.
Chin committed suicide in county jail by placing a plastic trash bag over his head and securing it around his neck with a shoelace.
Chin is the only known Chinese penetration agent, and he is the longest-surviving penetration agent in the history of espionage.
Paul Davis also writes an American Crime blog for GreatHistory.com. Davis can be reached at daviswrite@aol.com. Visit his website here.
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May 3rd, 2009 at 11:06 pm