The Chinese intelligence service has an institute in Xi'an, China, that employs an expert for every one of the 3,000 counties in the United States.
Posted by Ask Dr. Drew, Checked
- Sources
- 6 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 25%
Ask Dr. DrewOct 21, 2026
No source mentions a Chinese intelligence institute in Xi'an that employs an expert for each of the 3,000 US counties. The only MSS-linked institute in the sources, CICIR, is described as based in Beijing, which is a different thing from the claimed Xi'an institute, so the sources neither confirm nor refute the claim.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What we found
Context. Source 7 (Wikipedia, unrated) and source 8 (a Substack cross-post of a Centre for State Threats briefing) describe CICIR as the cover identity of the MSS 11th Bureau, based in Beijing, not Xi'an.[3][4]
Context. Source 10 (FAS) describes MSS operations targeting the US in general terms, and source 5 (USCC testimony) says the PRC conducts worldwide intelligence operations in the US, but neither mentions a Xi'an institute or county-level experts.[1][5]
Context. Source 6 (GovInfo congressional testimony) refers to thousands of county-level Chinese institutions in general terms, without naming a Xi'an institute or any per-county expert program, so it does not address the claim's specific assertion.[2]
Context. Source 11 (CSIS espionage survey, 224 instances since 2000) catalogs espionage cases and does not mention a county-by-county expert network, so its silence is not evidence against the claim's specific operational detail.[6]
Sources
6 sources: 2 primary, 4 not rated
- 1Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and ...uscc.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 2THE MALIGN INFLUENCE OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC ... - GovInfogovinfo.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 4Research as Cover: How Chinese Intelligence Uses Think Tanks ...asiacrimecentury.substack.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 5Ministry of State Security Operations - Chinese Intelligence ...irp.fas.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Survey of Chinese Espionage in the United States Since ...csis.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Chinese Ministry of State Security has installed cell phone sensors on a building near the White House to intercept signals.Can’t tell
- China has been on a 100-year program to take down the United States from 1949 to 2049.Mixed
- The Chinese Communist Party purchased a building near the White House and is intercepting cell phone signals of people entering it.Can’t tell
- Chinese state researchers are planning to use AI models to map how to target susceptible Americans and change their votes.Can’t tell
- China accelerated its goal to take down the United States from 2049 to 2030 in 2010.Can’t tell