【中国观察2020年12月10日讯】根据Axios 12月8号发表独家长篇报导，这起间谍行动的中心人物是一中国女性，名叫方芳，或克里斯汀‧方（Christine Fang）。2011年至2015年期间，方芳在加州的政界异常活跃，专门搜罗湾区以及全美有前途的政界新秀。
Axios在长达一年的调查中，采访了4名美国情报官员，并对22名当选官员、政界人物和亲自接触过方芳的学生进行了调查。
据他们回忆，2011年方芳进入加州州立大学东湾分校就读，担任该校中国学生会主席和亚太公共事务联盟（APAPA）在该校分会的主席。她利用竞选筹款、广泛的人际关系、和“个人魅力”等，和当选官员以及知名人士建立关系。之后，方芳通过参加针对美国市长的“区域会议”，迅速打入全美范围的政客网络。她还跟至少两名市长发展了性关系或暧昧关系。
报导说，方芳曾最努力接近的目标之一，是民主党加州联邦众议员斯沃威尔（Eric Swalwell）。在斯沃韦尔2014年连任竞选活动中，她代表斯沃韦尔办公室进行筹款活动。甚至安排了至少一名实习生在斯沃韦尔的办公室里。
2011年至2015年间，方芳曾与不少湾区著名政客有联系，2014年她为角逐联邦众议员的印度裔民主党人卡纳（Ro Khanna）担任竞选义工。报导还说，根据方芳上传到脸书上活动传单，她2013年曾帮助夏威夷联邦众议员加伯德（Tulsi Gabbard）筹款。她还和加州众议员赵美心（Judy Chu）以及当时的众议员麦克·本田合影（Mike Honda）。
Axios的报道说，方芳收集了一些政府官员的私人资料，例如习惯、喜好、社交网络甚至是关于他们的传闻。美国官员相信方芳在美国的真实目的就是为了收集政治情报，以影响美国政治新星对中国问题的看法。
Axios分析，这个案例说明了中共努力渗透美国政界，有的时候甚至不惜花费几年甚至几十年的时间才能培养出“成果”，可谓放长线钓大鱼。因为“中共知道今天的市长和市议会议员，可能成为明天的州长和国会议员”。
自由主义法学家、中国问题专家袁红冰：“克里斯汀‧方这个人，她的行为并不是传统意义上的那种窃取各种情报的间谍。她是中共在奥巴马时期，对于中共采取全面的绥靖主义的时期，中共就利用西方对中共暴政的警觉性的放松，进行全面的社会渗透，全面的收集美国社会各方面情资。这个案例就是新的形势下中共的间谍活动的一个典型的案例。”
方芳是在美国情报部门在监视另外一名涉嫌进行特务活动的中共官员时，“顺便”被发现的。这名官员以中共驻旧金山领事馆为基地，方芳不仅和他多次联系，2012年还获得旧金山领事馆的“荣誉证书”，以表彰她担任加州州立大学东湾分校学生会主席期间，“表现出卓越的组织和领导能力”。
旅美政经分析人士秦鹏指出，这个案例再次显示出，在美国的“学生学者联谊会”是中共统战部门辖下的。
旅美政经分析人士秦鹏：“领馆通过这种学生、学者，给他们提供活动的经费，然后这些人就必须跟中共走的非常近。而且这些人还带着任务，包括监控在海外的华人，以及窃取美国校园或者科技的技术机密。”
袁红冰：“中共驻世界各国特别是民主国家的所谓的领事馆也好，所谓的外事部门也好，实际上它的主要的功能之一就是成为那个地方的中共间谍的总指挥。所以前一段的美国关闭了中共驻美国的一个领事馆，这个动作是完全有针对性的。”
在FBI对方芳进行调查之际，她突然在2015年离开美国，再也没有返回美国。
The U.S. news site Axios revealed on Dec. 8 that a suspected Chinese Communist Party intelligence operative had been deliberately befriending local and federal politicians, including members of Congress, during the Obama administration. A current senior U.S. intelligence official revealed that the spy's actions were a "major case" because some very sensitive people were involved.
According to an exclusive, lengthy report published by Axios on December 8, the spy operation centered on a Chinese woman named Fang, or Christine Fang, who was active in California politics from 2011 to 2015, scouring the Bay Area and the nation for promising political talent. The Axios investigation was a year-long effort.
In a year-long investigation, Axios interviewed four U.S. intelligence officials and surveyed 22 elected officials, political figures and students who had personal contact with Fang.
As they recalled, Fang enrolled at California State University East Bay in 2011, serving as president of the university's Chinese Student Association and president of the Asia Pacific Public Affairs Alliance (APAPA) chapter at the university. She used campaign fundraising, extensive networking, and "personal charisma" to build relationships with elected officials and celebrities. Fang then quickly penetrated a nationwide network of politicians by attending "regional conferences" for U.S. mayors. She also developed sexual or flirtatious relationships with at least two mayors.
One of Fang's hardest targets was Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, the newspaper said. During Swalwell's 2014 re-election campaign, she conducted fundraising events on behalf of Swalwell's office. Even arranged for at least one intern to be in Swalwell's office.
Between 2011 and 2015, Fang was associated with a number of prominent Bay Area politicians, and in 2014 she served as a campaign volunteer for Ro Khanna, an Indian-American Democrat running for the U.S. House of Representatives. She also helped raise money for Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D) in 2013, according to a campaign flyer Fang uploaded to Facebook. She was also photographed with California Rep. Judy Chu (D) and then-Rep. Mike Honda (D).
The Axios report said Fang Fang collected private information about some government officials, such as habits, preferences, social networks and even rumors about them. U.S. officials believe Fang's real purpose in the United States is to gather political intelligence to influence the views of rising U.S. political stars on China issues.
Axios analyzes this case as an example of the CCP's efforts to infiltrate U.S. politics, sometimes taking years or even decades to cultivate "results," which can be described as fishing for big fish with long lines. Because "the CCP knows that today's mayors and city council members can become tomorrow's governors and congressmen.
Liberal jurist and China expert Yuan Hongbing: "Christine Fang is not a spy in the traditional sense of stealing all kinds of information. She is a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which took advantage of the West's relaxed vigilance against the CCP's tyranny to conduct a comprehensive social infiltration and collect information on all aspects of American society during the Obama era, when the CCP adopted a comprehensive appeasement policy. This case is a typical example of Chinese Communist espionage in the new situation."
Fang was discovered "in passing" while U.S. intelligence was spying on another Chinese Communist Party official suspected of secret service activities. This official was based at the CCP consulate in San Francisco, and Fang not only had numerous contacts with him, but also received a "Certificate of Merit" from the San Francisco consulate in 2012 for "demonstrating outstanding organizational and leadership skills" while serving as president of the Cal State East Bay student government. She also received a Certificate of Merit from the San Francisco Consulate in 2012 for her "outstanding organizational and leadership skills" as president of the Cal State East Bay Student Government Association.
According to U.S. political and economic analyst Qin Peng, this case shows once again that the "Students and Scholars Association" in the United States is under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department.
Qin Peng, a U.S.-based political and economic analyst, said, "The consulate provides funding for their activities through these students and scholars, and then these people have to get very close to the Chinese Communist Party. And these people also carry missions, including monitoring Chinese overseas, and stealing technical secrets from U.S. campuses or technology."
Yuan Hongbing: "The so-called consulates of the Chinese Communist Party in countries around the world, especially in democratic countries, and the so-called foreign affairs departments, in fact one of its main functions is to become the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Communist spies in that place. That's why the U.S. shut down one of the CCP consulates in the U.S. in the previous paragraph, a move that was completely targeted."
As the FBI was investigating Fang Fang, she suddenly left the U.S. in 2015 and never returned.