Over the weekend I noted that The Times of London occasionally makes editorial content accessible to us without a subscription. It remains accessible for a few days. I drew attention to last week’s first-person account by Elsa Johnson, which became inaccessible shortly thereafter. Our friend at the Times has resent us Ms. Johnson’s column with a link that should make it accessible for a few more days. I urge readers to check out the column: “I’m a Stanford student. A Chinese agent tried to recruit me as a spy.” Subhead: “For three months a man bombarded me with messages, trying to lure me to China with promises of money and fame. Now, I’m revealing his tactics.”
The column is a chilling first-person account that makes for compelling reading. Meet Charles Chen or Chan — not to be confused with Charlie Chan, though Ms. Johnson’s column does remind me of the title Charlie Chan’s Secret from the classic Hollywood movie series and one of Charlie’s sayings: “Motive like end of string – tied to many knots. End may be in sight but hard to unravel.”
John followed up with another first-person account that he received from a friend. He posted the friend’s account in “Countering the Chinese threat.” Read it in light of Ms. Johnson’s Times column.
