It started with a strange email: an unsolicited invitation for host Terri Wu to become a "senior geopolitical analyst" for a shadowy "defense advisory trust"—confidential, decoupled from her reporting, and sent from a personal Gmail.

Then came the Five Eyes "Safeguarding Our Secrets" bulletin, warning that foreign intelligence services court exactly the people who get pitches like that: journalists, academics, clearance holders, and military personnel.

In this episode, Terri brings the puzzle to two veterans of the China file — former State, Defense, and CIA officer Nicholas Eftimiades and former State Department diplomat Jim Lewis — to map the CCP's "whole-of-society" playbook: the recent agent prosecutions (Thomas Pauken, Eileen Wang, Linda Sun), the overseas police stations, the quiet pivot to state and local politics, and why Beijing is betting it can simply wait Washington out.

The message is blunt: whether or not that email traces back to anyone in particular, you're already on the front line—and there's plenty you can do about it.

Our last year's episode with Nick is here: “How China Spies in America: The Whole-of-Society Model Operation.”

Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

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Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com.

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