In a motion filed with those of his colleagues, an attorney, two Wall Street Journal reporters, and Dow Jones, Dr Waller explained why the evidence suggests strongly that Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui is a spy for Communist China.
Guo, who goes by about 11 other names including Miles Kwok, sued the group for defamation. He took offense to fact-based allegations that he may be a spy for the Xi Jinping regime, and to commentary on Twitter and this blog that he found displeasing.
The case is Guo Wengui a/k/a Miles Kwok vs Strategic Vision US LLC, J. Michael Waller, French Wallop, Edward Greim, Dow Jones & Company Inc., Aruna Viswanatha, and Kate O’Keefe. The index number is 157538/2019. A pdf of Dr Waller’s motion, which contains relevant facts and his argument, can be downloaded here:
Waller’s Motion to Dismiss;
Exhibit A: Guo Deposition;
Exhibit B: Guo Declaration of Loyalty to Xi Jinping
Below is a reprint of the section of Dr Waller’s motion that discusses Guo’s ties with the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). See another case, Eastern Profit v Strategic Vision, for more.
“Guo Built His Fortune With the Chinese Security and Intelligence Service
“Guo claims to have become a multi-billionaire in the years since he was released from jail in 1991, despite his limited education. He has claimed to be ‘very good friends’ with then-Chinese Ministry of State Security vice minister Ma Jian, under whom Guo built his fortune.[1]
“Ma Jian and the MSS were the keys to Guo’s accumulation of incredible wealth in a very short time, in a country where financial success is invariably intertwined with Communist Party or secret police connections. ‘Guo’s protector, beginning in about 2004, was Ma Jian, vice minister of the Ministry of State Security (‘MSS’) until Ma’s arrest . . . in December 2014 after losing an intra-Party power struggle.'”[2]
“A New York Times reporter who interviewed Guo extensively says that Guo started ‘making real political connections when he was in Henan,’ a province in eastern China. ‘[H]e then, from what we understand, he did get to start meeting some people in the security apparatus [Wu] Guanzheng and then Ma Jian then came on after him, and he moved from Hunan to Beijing. And from there he started developing his properties. Getting the Pangu [Guo’s former prize seven-star retail, residential, and office complex by the Beijing Olympic village] was pretty bare knuckles,’ according to Mike Forsythe of the New York Times.[3] ‘He makes no bones about it that his political patron is Ma Jian, who is the vice minister of state security, or was. . . . Those things are a pretty straightforward part of the record.’[4]
“This is a vital connection to understand. Entrepreneurs in China need a political patron to succeed. The MSS is China’s internal security and foreign intelligence service, responsible for political repression at home and espionage abroad. ‘One of Ma’s duties was to run the MSS’s No. 8 Bureau, which was in charge of counterintelligence against foreign targets, including diplomats, businessmen, and reporters. The MSS has a role not only in repressing domestic political dissent, but also in monitoring and suppressing activities overseas that are deemed to be subversive of the Chinese Communist Party. This includes overseas dissidents, who the CCP views as traitors to China.’[5]
“‘He talks about Ma all the time, and he always speaks about Ma in terms of reverence and respect, which is pretty rare for him.’[6] His relationship is so close to Ma Jian that Guo claimed to the New York Times that his daughter “went to New York University with Ma Jian’s daughter.’[7]
“The Strategic Vision counterclaim stated that Guo was a ‘long-time employee of Vice Minister Ma Jian,’ and that ‘Guo paid MSS officials and bought surveillance equipment for the MSS in exchange for favors. Guo was able to use his connection with Ma and the MSS against its own targets in China.’[8] In intelligence parlance, Guo’s two-way relationship with the MSS made him a Chinese intelligence ‘asset.’ A Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) glossary defines ‘asset’ as ‘A person with a formal relationship characterized by a witting agreement and a degree of commitment and control and who provides information or services.'”[9]
In common American English as defined by Webster’s, an intelligence asset is defined as ‘spy.’[10]
“‘Guo said he paid money to Ji [Shengde, former Chinese People’s Liberation Army military intelligence chief] as part of China’s use of businesses to support intelligence activities,’ according to journalist Bill Gertz, a veteran intelligence reporter. Guo said that he was not a defector to the United States, meaning that Guo did not switch loyalties from the MSS.[11]
“Therefore, it is safe to say that Guo Wengui is a Communist Chinese spy.”
[1] Guo Wengui, Deposition, “Exhibit A,” p. 75:6-7. [Download Exhibit A here: https://jmichaelwaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Exhibit-A-Guo-deposition.pdf.]
[2] “Defendant Strategic Vision US, LLC’s Answer and Counterclaims to Second Amended Complaint,” Eastern Profit Corporation Limited vs. Strategic Vision US LLC, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Case No. 18-cv-2185, ¶53.
[3] Mike Forsythe and Alexandra Stevenson of the New York Times in podcast “Guo Wengui: The Extraordinary Tale of a Chinese Billionaire Turned Dissident,” Sinica Podcast, July 19, 2017, from 8 minutes, 2-30 seconds, http://www.chinafile.com/library/sinica-podcast/guo-wengui-extraordinary-tale-of-chinese-billionaire-turned-dissident.
[4] Ibid., at 9 minutes, 00-45 seconds.
[5] Ibid., ¶53.
[6] Forsythe, podcast discussion, from 20:23-21:56.
[7] Mike Forsythe and Alexandra Stevenson of the New York Times in podcast “Guo Wengui: The Extraordinary Tale of a Chinese Billionaire Turned Dissident,” Sinica Podcast, July 19, 2017, referenced in item 19 of written text, http://www.chinafile.com/library/sinica-podcast/guo-wengui-extraordinary-tale-of-chinese-billionaire-turned-dissident. In the podcast, Forsythe calls it “kind of odd” that Chinese authorities allowed Guo’s wife and daughter to leave China to join Guo if Guo was really an enemy of the Communist Party. On podcast at 31:52-32:55.
[8] Ibid., ¶54.
[9] Central Intelligence Agency, “Glossary of Terms: The California Story,” https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/report/glossary.html
[10] Merriam-Webster dictionary, “Definition of asset,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/asset
[11] Bill Gertz, “China’s Intelligence Networks in United States Include 25,000 Spies,” Washington Free Beacon, July 11, 2017, https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinas-spy-network-united-states-includes-25000-intelligence-officers/.