MESSING WITH CHINESE SPIES 111targets, and CIA officers were priority targets for the Chinese, we’d happily
accepted each other’s invitations. The fact that I’d accepted his invitation
told him I was either a CIA officer who was allowed (if not tasked) to meet
with Chinese officials, or I was a “normal” American official without such
permission who was willing to run the risk and meet, for as yet undeter-
mined motives.
As planned, Stacy and I met Mr. Kang for dinner the following week at
one of Palmera’s best Chinese restaurants. His wife was a no-show, but
several of his male colleagues (whom I’d never met) were there, all dressed
in dark suits and ties. Mr. Kang greeted us in the restaurant’s entrance
and directed Stacy and me to sit down on an ornate wooden bench in
the reception area. One of his colleagues promptly crouched down and
snapped a photo of the two of us. Stacy shot me one of those What have you
gotten me into this time? looks. I just shrugged and assured her the light and
crispy lumpias (spring rolls) were well worth the indignity of it all.
We then proceeded like sheep being led to slaughter to a big round
table in a beautiful private dining room. The ambience in the room was
not unlike that in fine Chinese dining establishments throughout the
United States, decorated with traditional Chinese vases and artwork, and
a latticed ceiling. Chinese music played softly in the background, and
the efficient restaurant staff was entirely Chinese. The only non-Chinese
employee was a young local who provided home delivery in the vicinity
of the restaurant on his moto. (I know this because he regularly delivered
Chinese food to our villa.)
After ordering food for the table in Mandarin, Mr. Kang asked us (in
Spanish) several basic biographic questions. He wanted to know where we
were born, what colleges we had attended, and whether we had any chil-
dren. There would be no small talk with this young spy, who clearly was
eager to gather enough preliminary information on his American target to
draft his first ops cable back to Beijing. His colleagues enjoyed the dinner
but did not participate in the conversation. I assume they may have been
his superiors and wanted to observe their young protégé in action.
When the dinner and informal interrogation ended, Mr. Kang and his