Book Reviews - My Country Versus Me & A Convenient Spy
By Chia-Chi Li
My Country Versus Me
By Wen Ho Lee and Helen Zia
Hyperion 2001
Hardback $23.95
A Convenient Spy
By Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman
Simon & Schuster 2001
Hardback $26.00
The story of Wen Ho Lee stands as one of the most intriguing of our times. It single-handedly sparked nationwide boycotts and protests, threatened to destabilize the world power balance and resurrected images of cloak and dagger spy games of a level not witnessed since the Cold War. Senators and congressmen bemoaned the largest breach of national security in American history while the nation’s most powerful Asian American and scientific organizations adamantly protested. And at the fulcrum was one man: Wen Ho Lee.
But what really happened? The facts of the case are murky at best. United States vs. Wen Ho Lee ended with Lee pleading guilty to one count of “mishandling sensitive information” and going free on time served. No questions were conclusively answered. Was the government on a witch-hunt and racially profiling Lee for being Chinese? Or was Wen Ho Lee a spy stealing US nuclear secrets? All that is known is that a man who supposedly posed a “threat to millions of Americans” was then released as a free man and the data that he allegedly stole remains unaccounted for.
Two books concerning the case were recently published. Both books agree that the US was spooked by the detonation of a nuclear bomb by China that had gone under a sophisticated process of miniaturization -- a process found only on the most advanced US warheads and which the Chinese were thought unable to have obtained without stolen technology. By way of alarmist clarions within the FBI, pressure mounted to find the leak. What ensued was a series of actions that touched upon the FBI, US National Laboratories, the Attorney General and the executive branch.
In My Country Versus Me, Lee collaborates with acclaimed Asian American writer Helen Zia to tell the story from his point of view. Beginning with his life in Taiwan he tells of his education, his work in America, his children and wife, and his love for fishing. Lee shares some of his most emotional experiences with solitary confinement, the harrowing FBI interrogations and his treatment during the trial. Throughout the book Lee wholeheartedly professes his innocence: He did not spy for any country, America is his home as well as that of his wife and children and he worked to make this country safer. He also claims that the investigation was intrinsically flawed because it sought him as a suspect solely because he is Chinese and speaks Chinese. Caucasians who did the same things were never punished as he was. He claims the tapes of “stolen” data he made were for backups and all were destroyed.
In A Convenient Spy, Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman, both newspaper journalists covering the case, paint a carefully constructed version of the events from the viewpoints of a multitude of people, ranging from the agents on the case to Lee’s graduate advisor. Lacking the intimacy Lee and Zia have with the case, Stober and Hoffman painstakingly piece together their account, resulting in a meticulous and balanced report of the entire case. Gaining access to the FBI and DOE files, they weave an engaging story of motives, suspicion, and political maneuvering. Interviews with neighbors and coworkers construct a psychological profile to guess at purpose and incentive.
However, both books contain a certain level of bias. Stober and Hoffman maintain a cloud of mystery and suspicion to keep their readers guessing – what a good is a mystery story if there is no mystery? Their dependence on certain avenues for information translates to an account that is less varied. For example, only one of Lee’s lawyers is given significant mention while the recorded FBI data is overexposed.
Lee and Zia push for innocence throughout the entire book. Every question raised about his conduct is answered. While billed as the simple honest truth, the responses never include a response to possible counterarguments and often failed to mention some more dubious facts. However, they do triumph greatly in their goal of a personal and emotional portrayal of the events. The FBI transcripts of the interrogations had this reviewer jumping and cursing at the words on the page while Judge Parker’s speech had me near tears. The struggle the Lee family made to support each other, especially the Lee’s perseverance under conditions when the FBI targeted his family and when Lee’s children publicly and actively defended their father, will strike at the heartstrings every red-blooded American.
Regardless of guilt or innocence, every Asian American that has a parent in the high tech field or are themselves in the field, should be familiar with this case. Every Asian American who has family or friends who do not want to get involved in politics should buy one of these books as a gift. Whether positive or not, Wen Ho Lee marks an epoch in our history.
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By Wen Ho Lee and Helen Zia
Hyperion 2001
Hardback $23.95
A Convenient Spy
By Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman
Simon & Schuster 2001
Hardback $26.00
The story of Wen Ho Lee stands as one of the most intriguing of our times. It single-handedly sparked nationwide boycotts and protests, threatened to destabilize the world power balance and resurrected images of cloak and dagger spy games of a level not witnessed since the Cold War. Senators and congressmen bemoaned the largest breach of national security in American history while the nation’s most powerful Asian American and scientific organizations adamantly protested. And at the fulcrum was one man: Wen Ho Lee.
But what really happened? The facts of the case are murky at best. United States vs. Wen Ho Lee ended with Lee pleading guilty to one count of “mishandling sensitive information” and going free on time served. No questions were conclusively answered. Was the government on a witch-hunt and racially profiling Lee for being Chinese? Or was Wen Ho Lee a spy stealing US nuclear secrets? All that is known is that a man who supposedly posed a “threat to millions of Americans” was then released as a free man and the data that he allegedly stole remains unaccounted for.
Two books concerning the case were recently published. Both books agree that the US was spooked by the detonation of a nuclear bomb by China that had gone under a sophisticated process of miniaturization -- a process found only on the most advanced US warheads and which the Chinese were thought unable to have obtained without stolen technology. By way of alarmist clarions within the FBI, pressure mounted to find the leak. What ensued was a series of actions that touched upon the FBI, US National Laboratories, the Attorney General and the executive branch.
In My Country Versus Me, Lee collaborates with acclaimed Asian American writer Helen Zia to tell the story from his point of view. Beginning with his life in Taiwan he tells of his education, his work in America, his children and wife, and his love for fishing. Lee shares some of his most emotional experiences with solitary confinement, the harrowing FBI interrogations and his treatment during the trial. Throughout the book Lee wholeheartedly professes his innocence: He did not spy for any country, America is his home as well as that of his wife and children and he worked to make this country safer. He also claims that the investigation was intrinsically flawed because it sought him as a suspect solely because he is Chinese and speaks Chinese. Caucasians who did the same things were never punished as he was. He claims the tapes of “stolen” data he made were for backups and all were destroyed.
In A Convenient Spy, Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman, both newspaper journalists covering the case, paint a carefully constructed version of the events from the viewpoints of a multitude of people, ranging from the agents on the case to Lee’s graduate advisor. Lacking the intimacy Lee and Zia have with the case, Stober and Hoffman painstakingly piece together their account, resulting in a meticulous and balanced report of the entire case. Gaining access to the FBI and DOE files, they weave an engaging story of motives, suspicion, and political maneuvering. Interviews with neighbors and coworkers construct a psychological profile to guess at purpose and incentive.
However, both books contain a certain level of bias. Stober and Hoffman maintain a cloud of mystery and suspicion to keep their readers guessing – what a good is a mystery story if there is no mystery? Their dependence on certain avenues for information translates to an account that is less varied. For example, only one of Lee’s lawyers is given significant mention while the recorded FBI data is overexposed.
Lee and Zia push for innocence throughout the entire book. Every question raised about his conduct is answered. While billed as the simple honest truth, the responses never include a response to possible counterarguments and often failed to mention some more dubious facts. However, they do triumph greatly in their goal of a personal and emotional portrayal of the events. The FBI transcripts of the interrogations had this reviewer jumping and cursing at the words on the page while Judge Parker’s speech had me near tears. The struggle the Lee family made to support each other, especially the Lee’s perseverance under conditions when the FBI targeted his family and when Lee’s children publicly and actively defended their father, will strike at the heartstrings every red-blooded American.
Regardless of guilt or innocence, every Asian American that has a parent in the high tech field or are themselves in the field, should be familiar with this case. Every Asian American who has family or friends who do not want to get involved in politics should buy one of these books as a gift. Whether positive or not, Wen Ho Lee marks an epoch in our history.
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