In November 2004, former Secretary-General of the Chinese Communist Party’s Hong Kong Liaison Office, Cai Xiaohong, was secretly sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court for espionage on behalf of the UK.
Cai Xiaohong’s grandparents, Wu Zhizhi and grandmother Cai Chuyin, joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1925 and were engaged in espionage work under the leadership of Zhou Enlai for a long time.
In 1930, Wu Zhizhi and his wife were arrested while engaged in espionage work in Thailand. Wu Zhizhi was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “Bolshevik conspiracy and rebellion” by the local court; Cai Chuyin was deported. Later, due to a Thai government “amnesty,” Wu Zhizhi spent eight years in prison before being deported.
In 1940, Zhou Enlai transferred Wu Zhizhi and his wife to Chongqing, preparing to send them to Yan’an. After the “Anhui Incident” in January 1941, the senior Chinese Communist Party spy in Hong Kong, Liao Chengzhi, urgently needed assistance, so Zhou Enlai immediately dispatched Wu Zhizhi and his wife to Hong Kong.
By 1949, Wu Zhizhi and his wife had been engaged in espionage work in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
After the communist takeover on October 1, 1949, Wu Zhizhi and his wife were transferred to work at the Central United Front Work Department in Beijing under Zhou Enlai’s instructions. In early 1950, Ye Jianying assumed the position of Secretary of the CPC South China Bureau, Guangdong Provincial Chairman, and Mayor of Guangzhou. He brought a group of cadres from Beijing to the south, and Wu Zhizhi and Cai Chuyin were among them.
Wu Zhizhi subsequently held various positions, such as Secretary of the South China Bureau Overseas Commission, Director of the Guangdong Provincial Overseas Commission, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office and Consulate General of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, Negotiation Representative for Dual Citizenship in Overseas Chinese in the Indonesian Embassy of the Chinese Embassy, Director of a department of the Overseas Chinese Commission, and the Party Committee of the Overseas Chinese University as the Second Secretary.
Following the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Wu Zhizhi and his wife, who were involved in espionage activities in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia, were both arrested, released after being detained, labeled as “traitors,” and thrown into prison. Unable to bear the insults, Cai Chuyin took her own life in June 13, 1969.
Cai Xiaohong’s father, Cai Cheng, originally named Wu Yihong. When Wu Zhizhi and his wife were sent to Hong Kong by Zhou Enlai in 1940, Wu Yihong was only 13 years old. He was sent to Yan’an by Zhou Enlai, along with Li Peng, Jiang Nanxiang, Ye Xuanning, among others. After arriving in Yan’an, he was arranged to study at the Natural Sciences Academy.
In 1944, to strengthen the defense work in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the CPC Central Organization Department selected 10 students from Yan’an University, which was formed from the merger of the Natural Sciences Academy and other schools. Wu Yihong was among those selected. Because of his involvement in secret reconnaissance work at the Security Bureau, they had to change their names, and Wu Yihong became Cai Cheng.
When the CPC occupied Xi’an in 1949, Cai Cheng served as the Deputy Director of the Research Department at the Northwest Military and Political Committee’s Public Security Department. It was there that he met and fell in love with Su Qingying, who worked in the same department. On May 6, 1950, the two got married. A lively dance party was organized specifically for the newlyweds at the Northwest Military and Political Committee’s Grand Hall, with the highest leadership, Xi Zhongxun, being enthusiastic to join and invite the bride for the first dance.
Soon after their wedding, Cai Cheng and his wife were transferred to work at the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau. In January 1965, the 37-year-old Cai Cheng was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Guangdong Public Security Department.
Following the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Cai Cheng was also impacted, detained, and subjected to scrutiny. In 1973, he was exonerated and resumed his position as Deputy Director of the Guangdong Public Security Department, also taking on the role of Secretary of the Shenzhen Port Party Committee. In May 1978, Cai Cheng was transferred to Beijing where he successively held positions as the Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Public Security, Director of the Research Office, President of the Chinese People’s Public Security University, Member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security, and in 1985, as the Deputy Minister of Justice. In April 1988, he was appointed as the Minister of Justice.
Cai Xiaohong’s grandparents, parents, all old members of the Chinese Communist Party, so he was born into what was called the “red aristocracy.”
Cai Xiaohong was born in Guangzhou, probably in the 1950s, but detailed information about his birth year, schools attended, and university is not available. From the information that could be found, he served in the military, was awarded the rank of Colonel, and reportedly worked as an editor for the Liberation Army Daily.
In 1984, the Chinese Communist Party and the British government signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The UK agreed to transfer sovereignty of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997, with China pledging to implement the “One Country, Two Systems” policy in Hong Kong for 50 years. Subsequently, negotiations between China and the UK regarding the handover of Hong Kong sovereignty continued.
In 1989, eight years before Hong Kong’s return, Cai Xiaohong, being a member of the third generation of the Communist Party, skilled in writing, low-key, and trusted by the CCP, was transferred to work at Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch. Since Hong Kong was still under British rule at the time, Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch appeared to be a news organization, but in reality, it functioned as an underground Communist Party committee in Hong Kong. During this period, Cai Xiaohong undoubtedly had access to many confidential documents related to Hong Kong.
After the handover of Hong Kong’s sovereignty on July 1, 1997, Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch was renamed as the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Liaison Office. The Liaison Office was equivalent to the CCP’s municipal committee in Hong Kong. Cai Xiaohong was among the earliest officials at the Liaison Office. Starting from 2001, he was promoted to the position of Secretary-General at the Liaison Office.
The Secretary-General at the Liaison Office served as the chief aide to the Director of the Liaison Office. Confidential documents issued by the CCP Central Committee, the State Council, and relevant central government agencies to the Director of the Liaison Office, as well as vice versa, had to pass through Cai Xiaohong’s hands. Therefore, Cai Xiaohong had access to all the core secrets related to Hong Kong within the CCP.
In June 2002, while monitoring phone calls at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong, the Chinese intelligence agency unexpectedly learned detailed information about the security arrangements, itineraries, and routes of the highest-ranking CCP leaders, such as Jiang Zemin, during their visits to Hong Kong.
This information was considered top-secret, paramount to the safety of the highest-ranking CCP leaders, and the fact that it was leaked raised immediate concerns among the Chinese intelligence agencies.
The Ministry of State Security of the People’s Republic of China, the General Staff Department of Intelligence, and the Ministry of Public Security immediately launched a secret investigation. In April 2003, suspicions were first cast on Cai Xiaohong, who was then the Secretary-General at the Liaison Office. In July 2003, Cai Xiaohong was secretly summoned to Beijing for questioning. In September of the same year, he was officially dismissed from his position.
Major General Jin Yinan revealed in a lecture that in the 1980s, during the negotiations between China and the UK on the Hong Kong issue, the central government had long suspected an insider, “but they could not identify it until 2003.”
The person turned out to be the Secretary-General at the Liaison Office at the time, Cai Xiaohong.
According to a report by the BBC on November 8, 2004, Chinese officials in Hong Kong confirmed that Cai Xiaohong and Wei Pingyuan, former Director of the Taiwan Affairs Department at Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch, were convicted of espionage for the UK, and respectively sentenced to severe penalties.
Cai Xiaohong was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Wei Pingyuan was sentenced to life imprisonment. Both individuals were arrested during the CCP’s anti-espionage campaign in 2003.
It is believed that Wei Pingyuan held British citizenship, joined the UK’s intelligence organization, and recruited Cai Xiaohong to spy for the UK.
On the same day, the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong reported that Cai Xiaohong, during his tenure as Secretary-General at the Liaison Office, had shared confidential information with the British government and received payment of HK$6 million (US$770,000). Due to his good attitude towards admitting guilt, he received a lenient sentence of 15 years in prison.
Additionally, according to the BBC, on March 5, 2004, Chen Yulin, a former colleague of Cai Xiaohong and former Deputy Editor of Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch, was sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage by the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court.
Chen Yulin was accused of providing confidential documents to the British government from 1988 to 1995 and receiving HK$200,000 in return.
The cover story of the December 24, 2003 issue of Hong Kong’s East Week magazine revealed that following Cai Xiaohong’s detention, there were successive reports of former high-ranking officials at Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch who had allegedly been arrested on the mainland for espionage in the past decade. This included Liu Lin, former Deputy Director of the Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch, Wei Pingyuan, former Taiwan Affairs Department Director, and Chen Yulin, secretary to Vice-President Zheng Hua. The individuals were suspected of providing substantial amounts of information to British intelligence agencies during the time of Xinhua News Agency’s governance of Hong Kong, under the leadership of Zheng Hua.
The British had been recruiting senior officials at Xinhua News Agency since the early 1990s.
At that time, Liu Lin was transferred from the Shenzhen municipal government to Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch. Initially serving as Deputy Director of the Executive Office, he later rose to Director, directly under the then Secretary-General Zhu Yucheng. Liu Lin had access to a vast amount of classified information, ranging from national personnel changes to the central government’s negotiating strategies on Hong Kong issues, as well as activities within the Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch. His leaks put the Chinese side at a disadvantage during negotiations with the UK on issues such as the new Hong Kong airport and political system.
Reportedly, due to the UK’s concerns about Liu Lin being transferred out and losing the source of intelligence, they continued to recruit officials from Xinhua News Agency. When Liu Lin was transferred back to the mainland in 1994, Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch continued to flow with confidential information, as Cai Xiaohong, his deputy at the Executive Office, was successfully recruited. In addition to Liu and Cai, Zheng Hua’s secretary, Chen Yulin, and Taiwan Affairs Department Director Wei Pingyuan were also recruited. Subsequently, although Liu Lin returned in 1994, confidential information from Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch continued to flow to Britain, as Cai Xiaohong enjoyed a successful career within the branch, ultimately becoming the Secretary-General two years prior.
The question arises of who actually recruited Liu Lin, Cai Xiaohong, Chen Yulin, and Wei Pingyuan, the officials of Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch?
According to reports, it was a Chief Inspector from the Political Department of the former British Hong Kong government. This Chief Inspector was an operative from the British intelligence agency MI6 in the Far East, who, with officials such as Chen Yulin and Wei Pingyuan, established companies in Shenzhen engaged in real estate commercial activities as a cover, through which money and benefits were transferred.
Aside from monetary benefits, because at the time the Hong Kong British police department also held these Xinhua News Agency officials’ “black material”, they pressured and coerced them using both intimidation and enticement. After Hong Kong was returned to China, this retired Chief Inspector was arrested upon returning to Shenzhen in August 2004.
Prior to his downfall, Cai Xiaohong had already sent his wife and son to the UK.
Cai Xiaohong’s time in Hong Kong coincided with Jiang Zemin’s era in power. During an interview with journalists from Hong Kong, Jiang Zemin once said, “China has a saying, ‘Silent money makes big fortunes,’ I like this saying, it’s the best.” His son, Jiang Mianheng, is a typical figure who combines official promotions with business, embodying the concept of “silent money makes big fortunes.”
Jiang Zemin himself promoted and entrusted a large number of severely corrupt individuals. Under Jiang’s protection, they engaged in power, money, and sex trades, were greedy, morally corrupt, making big fortunes in silence as a result.
Given this backdrop, Cai Xiaohong went with the flow, exchanging intelligence for money, sending his wife and son to the UK, pursuing a life of luxury and pleasure, which was not surprising at all.