Target Manchuria

John T. Downey

  Target Manchuria

   The working methods of Chinese intelligence agencies generally remain in the dark. Very little is heard about them. There have been only two cases that throw some light on their modus operandi and efficiency. One of them is the unsuccessful operation known as “Target Manchuria”. It demonstrated to the world that the Chinese also do not lag behind in counter intelligence operations.

   John T. Downey, who worked as a trainer of agents in CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) could hardly imagine that he would find himself in a soup in his very first mission. But, fate decreed that he had to spend the next twenty years in a prison. Actually, it was not his job to go to Manchurian. His job was to train the Taiwanese against for dropping into China during the Korean War. But, he decided to go with them just for his experiences.

   He started from Seoul (South Korea) on November 29, 1952, with nine Taiwanese agents. They had to go to the Manchurian. These agents had to be dropped there and sum other agents working in another part of China had to be picked up. John T. Downey was accompanied by another CIA man, Richard Fecteau.

   The mission was a complete failure. May be the Chinese had prior information about their coming. All of them were arrested and put on the trial. The nine Taiwanese agents were sentenced to death. The trial of John T. Downey and Richard Fecteau started in 1954. For two years they were kept in solitaire confinement. John T. Downey was sentenced to life imprisonment and Richard Fecteau got twenty years imprisonment. Both of them confessed to everything as they knew well the Chinese methods for extracting confessions.

   The relations between China and America became more strained after this disclosure. It was a big embarrassment for CIA and America. At first America denied that John T. Downey and Richard Fecteau were agents. They only admitted that they were civilian employees of the Army department. The America authorized gave out that these two men had been lost at sea.

The Chinese Security Police

   The Chain made full use of this incident. They publicized the failure of the operation “Target Manchurian” through newspapers, particularly in the international press. Their idea was to malign America to an extent, so that out of frustration and pique, it may be forced of recognized the Communist regime in China. The Chinese also thought that they may be admitted to the United Nations. The government of America could not be browbeaten in any case.

   John T. Downey and Richard Fecteau were released after they had served their sentences. After their release in 1973, they went straight to the United States. They were again employed in CIA and the agency must have been generous to them. But, could it give them back the twenty years of their lives that they spent in Tsao Lan-Tze prison in Peking.




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