2010–2012 killing of CIA sources in China

Between 2010 and 2012, intelligence networks of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were dismantled by Chinese intelligence authorities in an intelligence breach. Intelligence gathering there was crippled for years afterward.

A large number of informants were killed, with one informant reportedly being shot in front of his colleagues at a courtyard of a government building, while many others were imprisoned.

It was initially estimated that between 18 and 20 sources were killed; Later estimates concluded that at least 30 sources were lost. The incident was considered one of the worst intelligence breaches of the CIA in decades. According to American officials, the number of sources lost during this period rivaled the number lost in the Soviet Union as a result of the betrayals of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen.

Causes for breach
The causes of the security breach leading to the destruction of the network were widely disputed in the ensuing investigation by U.S. intelligence.

Mole
Some investigators suspected that a traitor in the CIA had leaked the identities of informants. In January 2018, a former CIA officer named Jerry Chun Shing Lee was arrested and would eventually plead guilty on suspicion of helping dismantle the network.

Communications hack
Foreign Policy reported that the CIA had botched the communications system, which was brought over from its operations in the Middle East, that was used to contact its informants in China. The internet-based system was imported under the assumption that it made the CIA "invincible".

Aftermath
The CIA has struggled to rebuild its intelligence network in China; the effort has been described by officials as expensive and time-consuming. The cause of the leak that killed the agents was disputed by investigators, with some believing a mole was responsible, others believed the CIA comms system was hacked.

In 2023, CIA director William Burns stated that the agency had "made progress" in rebuilding its intelligence networks in China.