The Sixth Bureau, Episode 1: Your Friend From Nanjing
Odd Lots
Bloomberg
4.5 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 15 February 2026
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s an open secret that the Chinese government has engaged in a global campaign to acquire intellectual property from foreign rivals. At the center of that campaign is the Ministry of State Security, China’s elusive intelligence agency. The US has apprehended hundreds of people accused of giving information to the MSS, but the agency’s inner workings have been a mystery — until now.
Today, we’re bringing you Episode 1 of The Sixth Bureau, a limited-run series from The Big Take. The series follows an MSS intelligence officer whose mission was to acquire the crown jewels of American aerospace companies. With aliases, blackmail and the occasional break-in, he targeted corporate giants. That is, until his sloppiness — and a cunning FBI sting — led to a stunning reversal: Xu Yanjun became the first Chinese intelligence officer ever convicted on American soil.
Listen to Episode 2, available now in The Big Take.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts Radio News. |
| 0:11.2 | Today date is Wednesday, April 25th, 2018. The time is 312 p.m. The following is a consensual body recording with the subject, |
| 0:30.6 | G. Chow Chun, the recording starts now. |
| 0:43.2 | There's a guy sitting in a red Chevy Malibu in front of an apartment complex near downtown Chicago. |
| 0:46.6 | He's waiting for someone to walk out of the apartment building. |
| 0:49.7 | After a few minutes, the person does. |
| 0:52.2 | He's young, and he's wearing a warm-up jacket and glasses. |
| 0:55.6 | He has a buzz cut. |
| 0:57.1 | His name is G. Chowchun. |
| 1:02.2 | The guy in the red car gets out, walks toward G. |
| 1:05.7 | And yells to him in Mandarin. |
| 1:07.3 | Chow Chow Chow Chon? |
| 1:09.1 | Are you Chi Chow Chow Chon? |
| 1:18.4 | Yes. Hi. Hi. How may I help you? Is it a good time to talk? I beg your pardon? It's something I like to talk to you about. |
| 1:27.0 | We were all holding our breath because this is that interaction that we've prepared for. The two men are being watched. |
| 1:30.3 | Gee's a little confused, a little flustered, |
| 1:32.3 | and you can see that in his body language. |
| 1:34.3 | He keeps this distance. |
| 1:36.3 | You are a friend from Ranjing, say me to you. |
| 1:40.3 | This reference to Nanjing, it's code. |
| 1:43.3 | It's a way of saying, hey, we know the same people. And G, This reference to Nanjing, it's code. |
| 1:47.0 | It's a way of saying, hey, we know the same people. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Bloomberg, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Bloomberg and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.