Chinese espionage in California

Chinese espionage in California includes influence operations, political intelligence gathering, and industrial espionage. The state faces "the most mature" MSS networks of any in the United States. Activities in California may be coordinated by the Ministry of State Security (MSS) United States Bureau, which was established around 2010 to manage operations across the country. Espionage activities are especially common in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Organization
According to sinologist Alex Joske, "California was a treasured staging ground for political influence operations and economic espionage. Its extensive united front networks, clusters of advanced technology and undeniable electoral heft make it prime territory for MSS officers. Today, the state holds the honour of having an MSS unit dedicated to influence and intelligence work in it."

Activities in San Francisco
San Francisco, with its Silicon Valley, political importance in the Democratic Party, and large contingent of Chinese immigrants, is the centerpiece of operations in California for the MSS. According to US intelligence officials contacted by Politico, "if California is elevated among Chinese interests, San Francisco is like nirvana to the MSS, because of the potential to target community leaders and local politicians who may later become mayors, governors or congressmen." Several suspected MSS officers have been identified operating out of the San Francisco consulate.

Targeting of Senator Dianne Feinstein
According to four former U.S. intelligence officials, in the 2000s, a staffer and Chinese community outreach liaison in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco field office was providing political intelligence to the MSS. The informant, who was not ultimately charged, was handled by officials working out of China's San Francisco Consulate.

2008 Olympic Torch Run through San Francisco
In the lead up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, San Francisco was the only U.S. city to host the Olympic torch relay on its way to the event in Beijing. According to three former U.S. intelligence officials contacted by Politico, during the relay, Chinese officials sought to disrupt any potential protest and maintain China's public image by sending MSS and Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officers from China to the city to join suspected MSS officers embedded in the Bay Area. The officers were spotted wearing earpieces and radios, orchestrating the movements of counterprotesters, directing large groups of Chinese students to intimidate and disrupt protesters across the parade route and along the Embarcadero. The spies reportedly filmed Tibetan Buddhist monks on a march across the Golden Gate Bridge, surveilled a pro-Tibetan independence rally which feature Desmond Tutu and Richard Gere, and recorded participants at a Falun Gong rally in Union Square, filming protestors at the torch run itself. They then reportedly bussed in an estimated 6,000–8,000 J-visa Chinese students, and threatened them into disrupting Falun Gong, Tibetan, Uyghur and pro-democracy protesters. One US intelligence officer told Politico "I'm not sure they would have pulled out these stops in any other city, but San Francisco is special" to China.