Podcast Summary: Big Take – The Sixth Bureau, Episode 2: The Spy’s Diary

Date: February 13, 2026
Hosts: Jordan Robertson & Drake Bennett
Produced by: Bloomberg & iHeartPodcasts

Overview

This episode delves into the intricate and astonishing personal diary kept by Xu Yanjun, a Chinese spy from the Ministry of State Security (MSS), and uses it to explore the inner workings of China’s intelligence apparatus—particularly the MSS’s role in industrial espionage. Through recounting Xu’s daily entries and interviews with US investigators and intelligence experts, the episode reveals both how the MSS targets key Western technologies and the surprisingly long, patient methods it uses. It also uncovers the extensive and sometimes mundane details that inform high-stakes international spying.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Xu Yanjun’s Diary: An Unexpected Window into a Spy’s Life

• Xu maintained a meticulous online calendar and diary, recording not only work meetings and covert operations but also gambling losses, karaoke nights, family outings, and romantic entanglements.
  • [03:32] Xu (Diary): “June 11, morning eyeglasses prescription. March 6. The whole family worshiped the Buddha at Jinming Temple…”
  • [04:11] Xu (Diary): “July 15, afternoon purchase the house, signed contract. May 25, morning family day at Xiao Xiao’s kindergarten. Hike Zijin Mountain. June 25, afternoon Midao music festival.”
• Hosts and analysts were struck by the intimacy and candor of these entries, a unique window into the personal life of an intelligence officer.

2. The Complex Personal Life of a Chinese Spy

• Xu’s diary revealed a penchant for gambling and infidelity.
  • [05:29] Drake Bennett: “Hsu was married, but wasn’t the most faithful husband.”
• Emojis as code: Xu refers to a mistress as “peach” for discretion and records rendezvous with her.
  • [05:43] Xu (Diary): “December 30 evening peach the beginning Wanda Hilton… Peach was drunk and took her home.”
• Narrator describes Xu as “complicated” with a mix of ordinary and secretive behaviors.

3. The 6th Bureau and China’s Industrial Espionage

• China’s MSS is described as enormous, with hundreds of thousands of employees—much larger than the FBI and CIA combined.
  • [10:29] Jordan Robertson: “It’s way bigger than the FBI and the CIA combined. And it has an additional job … industrial espionage. Stealing stuff from companies instead of governments.”
• The policy roots: China’s industrial espionage is linked to national initiatives like Made in China 2025, meant to close technology gaps with the West.

4. How the MSS Targets Western Experts

• Federal Prosecutor Matthew McKenzie explains:
  • [11:04] McKenzie: “Everyone does espionage, but not every country uses their intelligence apparatus to steal commercial trade secrets. That is beyond the norms.”
• Case Study: Arthur Gao, a Taiwanese-American Honeywell engineer, was targeted for two decades, initially under the pretext of academic exchanges, then through persistent recruitment and payments.
  • [14:20] McKenzie: “Arthur thinks he’s talking to all of these academics and students. And it turns out that they are no academics, there are no students.”

5. Xu’s Spycraft: The “Taxonomy of Sources”

• Xu describes four levels of Western collaborators:

  1. High-level, reliable experts—can directly aid in projects, kept on the payroll for years.
     • [16:45] Xu: “There are a few aspects to our collaboration… This expert is ranked highly and is reliable.”
  2. Consultants—brought in occasionally, on-call for one-off problems or projects.
  3. Topical experts—provide expertise for short durations or in reports, least committed but most common.
  4. Spotters—people living in the West whose job is to find and assess other engineers as potential sources.
  • [27:22] Drake Bennett: “Level one is kind of like having someone who works for you directly over a period of time. Level two? … Level three? That’s even less of a commitment… Level four, spotters.”

6. Tactics: Carrots, Sticks, and the Long Game

• James Olson (former CIA):
  • [18:19] Olson: “It sounds terrible, but we are in the business of exploiting your weakness, your needs, your vulnerabilities. And we’re good at it.”
  • [19:07] Drake Bennett: “Sometimes exploiting vulnerabilities is a matter of carrots, but sometimes it sticks.”
• Examples:
  • Invitations under academic pretexts, lavish hospitality.
  • Threats or pressure via family in China.
  • Long periods of cultivation; if a potential source resists, recruiters simply return later.

7. Dramatic Case Narratives

• Arthur Gao’s Story:
  • Targeted for two decades, eventually succumbed to MSS recruitment.
  • Handed envelopes of cash, received subtle pressures, provided engineering secrets.
  • [23:56] Drake Bennett: “In 2021, Arthur Gao was indicted and pled guilty to exporting controlled information…”
• Li Jiang’s Story:
  • Fêted at banquets while MSS attempted to hack his laptop.
  • Unwittingly shared sensitive expertise.
• Ji Qiao Chun—the enthusiastic young “spotter”:
  • Recruited in China, sent to the US for grad school, brashly pursued local tech talent on behalf of the MSS.
  • Flashy, reckless, and strategic in his ambitions (even joining the US Army to gain security clearance).
  • [33:14] Olson: “He was fired up. He really wanted to do this. It’s kind of fun being a spy.”
  • Ji’s communication with his father mixes requests for sea cucumbers with updates on secret cash payments.

8. The Human Side and Vulnerabilities

• Even as cogs in a vast machine, Xu and his fellow spies remain subject to everyday worries, ambitions, and anxieties.
• [37:16] Xu (Diary): “At the end of the day, we are all serving the state. We’re all serving the state, right? Everyone. We all share the same goal.”
• Narrator describes the “yo-yoing” of Xu’s mood and evaluation at work, showing the intense pressure facing even high-level agents.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On MSS’s Size and Scope:
  • [10:29] Jordan Robertson: “It’s way bigger than the FBI and the CIA combined. And it has an additional job … industrial espionage.”
• On Exploiting Human Vulnerabilities:
  • [18:19] James Olson: “It sounds terrible, but we are in the business of exploiting your weakness, your needs, your vulnerabilities. And we’re good at it.”
• Xu’s Motivation:
  • [37:16] Xu (Diary): “At the end of the day, we are all serving the state.”
• Diaries as Spycraft:
  • [06:43] Drake Bennett: “It’s normal enough to keep a diary, but Xu’s recording things that are supposed to be secret, deniable things about his job and how he does it. It’s an actual spy’s diary, and we got our hands on it.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:02] – Introduction to Xu Yanjun’s intimate diary
• [10:29] – China’s MSS explained; industrial espionage focus
• [11:04] – Unusual extent of China’s commercial espionage
• [14:20] – Arthur Gao’s secret recruitment revealed
• [16:45] – Xu explains his “taxonomy of sources”
• [18:19] – James Olson discusses exploiting human weaknesses
• [23:56] – Legal consequences for Arthur Gao
• [27:22] – The four levels of foreign experts detailed
• [32:26] – Ji Qiao Chun’s recruitment and activities as a “spotter”
• [37:16] – Xu’s motivation: “We are all serving the state”

Concluding Insights

• The episode provides an unparalleled look into the daily life, emotional turmoil, and operational methods of a professional Chinese spy.
• It underscores the immense patience and sophistication of the MSS in cultivating sources over decades—with both incentives and threats.
• The personal stories humanize individuals caught in the machinery of state espionage, exposing not just clandestine maneuvering but private foibles, ambitions, and pressures.

For a deeper understanding of how industrial secrets are hunted—and the surprising banality of everyday spycraft—this episode is a compelling, granular companion to headlines about global espionage.