Yu Qiangsheng
Yu Qiangsheng | |
|---|---|
俞强声 | |
Yu circa 1960 | |
| Born | 1940 |
| Died | 2013 (aged 72–73) |
| Citizenship | People's Republic of China United States (from 1986) |
| Alma mater | University of International Relations |
| Employers | |
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party (–1986) |
| Parents |
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| Family |
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| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | United States (from 1980) |
| Agency | Central Intelligence Agency |
| Service years | 1980–1986 |
| Cryptonym | PLANESMAN |
| Operations | JADE POWDER |
Yu Qiangsheng (Chinese: 俞强声; 1940 – 2013) was a former high-ranking Chinese intelligence officer who defected to the United States in 1985. Born into an elite princeling family, Yu ascended the ranks of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), rising to lead the agency's North American operations. By that time, Yu had become a double agent, passing information to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the codename PLANESMAN. Described by his former FBI handler as "the ultimate risk taker", Yu was exfiltrated from China by way of Hong Kong in 1986 in operation JADE POWDER. The disclosures he made in his debriefing exposed CIA officer Larry Wu-Tai Chin as having been a mole for China for more than 40 years. Following his debriefing, Yu lived out the remainder of his life in the United States as a consultant for the intelligence services of the Five Eyes. He died in 2013.