Personal Dork Assistant

The Spy Who Came In From The Mall

The local media was abuzz with the news of a former senior US State Department guy who may have passed on classified documents to a Taiwanese agent. That wasn't the only thing the dude gave on to the female agent, either.

There, he allegedly met a 33-year-old female Taiwan intelligence agent who had flown from Washington, where she worked for Taiwan's representative office. He spent $570.01 at a Taipei Christian Dior shop, according to the affidavit, and paid a bill at the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei hotel in the amount of $333.19.

That's Chinese girls for ya, shopping for brand-name stuff while defending her country.

The New York Times had their own article, and more interesting than the details of the incident itself was the reaction of fellow State Department folks.

"I don't know of any senior officials who are pro-Taiwan," one former senior State Department official said.

He and others said Foreign Service officers largely viewed some Taiwanese officials' struggle to stay separate from China as a distraction, when the truly important relationship for the United States is China.

Carl W. Ford Jr., an assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research until he retired last year, worked directly with Mr. Keyser. He agreed that few if any State Department officials were openly pro-Taiwan.

Hmm... maybe buying some modern weaponry wouldn't be that bad of an idea after all.