Retired AF officer goes on trial in China spy case

ALEXANDRIA, VA. — A convicted spy who sold U.S. military secrets to China told jurors Monday how he recruited a retired Air Force officer into divulging classified information on U.S.-China military relations and other sensitive topics over the span of a decade.

James W. Fondren Jr., who retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1996 and later worked at the Pentagon as a civilian, went on trial in U.S. District Court on espionage-related charges, including aiding and abetting a foreign agent.

Fondren allegedly funneled classified military information to Tai Shen Kuo, a New Orleans furniture salesman and naturalized U.S. citizen who turned out to be a spy for the People's Republic of China.

Specifically, prosecutors charge that Fondren wrote "opinion papers" for Kuo that were often thinly veiled regurgitations of classified military reports. Kuo paid Fondren $800 to $1,500 for each of these reports, which Kuo relayed to his handler in China, said prosecutor W. Neil Hammerstrom Jr.

Between 1998 and 2007, Fondren prepared roughly 30 such reports for Kuo.

Kuo pleaded guilty to espionage last year and was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison. He is the chief witness at Fondren's trial and is hoping that his cooperation with prosecutors will earn him a reduced sentence.

In opening statements Monday, Fondren's attorney, Asa Hutchinson, told jurors that Fondren was one of many people who were fooled by Kuo. Fondren believed Kuo was using the information to legitimately further his contacts in the Chinese business community.

"James Fondren never knew, never perceived, never believed Tai Shen Kuo to be a spy," Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson also disputed the notion that the "opinion papers" contained any classified information. He said Fondren knew what information was classified and what could be made publicly available, and carefully observed that line in what he disclosed to Kuo.

Kuo's testimony, however, and e-mails written by Fondren indicate that Fondren knew the information would be relayed to the Chinese government and that it was indeed classified.

As far back as 1998, Fondren wrote an e-mail to a friend complaining that Kuo was using Fondren's opinion papers to ingratiate himself with the Chinese government.

"I am uncomfortable with his growing demands for confidential information so he can look good," Fondren wrote.

And in 1999, Fondren and Kuo took an all-expenses paid trip to China to meet Kuo's handler, Lin Hong. Kuo testified that he gave Fondren a thin cover story that Lin was a Hong Kong academic. But Fondren had plenty of clues that the cover story was a lie, Kuo said, including an instance where Kuo slipped up in front of Fondren and referred to a Chinese government official as Lin's boss.

After that trip, Fondren and Lin exchanged e-mails dozens of times, on topics including Fondren's efforts to obtain a missile-defense report for Lin.

Later, Fondren stopped corresponding with Lin and consistently used Kuo as a go-between, prosecutors said. Kuo and Lin used referred to Fondren by the code name "Fang" and in e-mail correspondence pressed Fondren to provide reports.

Kuo testified that he complimented Fondren's writing and sought to motivate him by telling him that his good ideas on topics like U.S.-Chinese military cooperation could find champions within the Beijing government.

Privately, though, Lin told Kuo that Fondren's "opinions" were ordinary and that Fondren should skip the editorializing and simply dig up raw documents.