School of War Ep 270: David Shedd on China’s Spies
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Jan 30, 2026 
David Shedd, former acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and long-time CIA officer, discusses China’s Ministry of State Security and the rise of Bureau 18. He traces trade-era warning signs, explains MSS recruitment and culture, and outlines industrial espionage tactics and global operations. The conversation also covers China’s legal tools for intelligence collection and regional influence.
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Early CIA Fieldwork In Central America
- David Shedd describes his early CIA work in Central America as a director of operations handling human agents against Soviet proxies.
- He supported anti-Sandinista efforts and coordinated covert action alongside diplomats and the military.
Policy Shift Fueled Economic Espionage
- David Shedd traces China's shift to targeted commercial espionage to Deng Xiaoping's 1984 policy blending controlled socialism with managed capitalism.
- China used WTO entry and trade access to accelerate industrial-scale theft rather than democratize or play by international rules.
State Narrative Normalizes Theft
- Chinese society and CCP members largely view industrial collection as correcting historical imbalances, not criminality.
- That worldview and party control make rule-based international integration unlikely to constrain state-directed theft.
