Xu Junping
Xu Junping | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | China |
| Service/ | People's Liberation Army |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands held | People's Liberation Army |
Xu Junping (徐俊平) is a former senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army who defected to the United States in December 2000.[1][2] He is the highest-ranking defector from the PLA, and his defection was described as one of the worst intelligence losses in China's history.[2][3]
Career[edit]
Xu was an American specialist within the PLA and an expert on disarmament.[1] Prior to his defection, Xu was responsible for day-to-day military contact between China and the Americas.[2] Prior to his defection, Xu was the director of the American and Oceanic Office of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense.[4]
Xu had studied in America as a visiting scholar at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and had also studied at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.[3][5]
Defection[edit]
Xu reportedly contacted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of his own initiative.[2] His defection was acknowledged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.[2][1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Risen, James (March 24, 2001). "Defection of Senior Chinese Officer Is Confirmed". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e Rennie, David (March 24, 2001). "Chinese colonel defects". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ a b Wise, David (September 6, 2011). "China's spilled secrets". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017.
On the list of spies, Jin included Col. Xu Junping, who defected in New York in 2000 while traveling with a Chinese military delegation. Xu had been a visiting scholar at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; he had also spent a year at Bath University in Britain and spoke near-perfect English. At the time he defected, Xu was director of the Chinese Defense Ministry's liaison office for the U.S. According to Jin, he would have been able to provide valuable information about the thinking of China's senior military leaders, their personalities "and their habits in making decisions." He was the highest-ranking defector from the PLA.
- ^ Pomfret, John (March 31, 2001). "Defector Described as 'Walk-In'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified the defector as Xu Junping, director of the American and Oceanic Office of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. He was the highest-ranking Chinese military officer in years whose defection has been publicly acknowledged by the Chinese government.
- ^ Rosenthal, Elisabeth (April 1, 2001). "Study Abroad For Chinese Is Tainted By a Defection". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017.