# Chinese Embassy "Officials" (Spies) Drive on to US Military Base. Why bring the wives? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901 "2019-12-15T19:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/1 "2019-12-15T19:57:56Z")
Chinese Embassy “Officials” were on a “sightseeing tour” and “accidentally” drove on to a Virginia Military Base. After being told they couldn’t enter, they drove on to the base anyway. Obviously they were testing Base security, but why have the wives along? Do the Chinese send over fake husband/ wife intelligence teams? Were they so sure that they were going to be immediately brought to the airport and expelled, that they didn’t want to leave their wives behind? > **[U.S. Secretly Expelled Chinese Officials Suspected of Spying After Breach of...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/world/asia/us-china-spies.html)** > > Chinese Embassy officials trespassed onto a Virginia base that is home to Special Operations forces. Their expulsions added to tensions between Washington and Beijing. > **[Chinese diplomats who drove onto military base kicked out of US: report](https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/chinese-officials-military-base-breach)** > > Two embassy officials and their wives entered a base in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/2 "2019-12-15T20:08:59Z")
Why bring wives? Because what kind of a spy would go out in a mission with their wife! Or, in other words, to provoke precisely the reaction you yourself have experienced. ETA: It’s also possible they’re NOT spies, it was just an honest mistake, and they got confused or misunderstood. But China hasn’t earned much consideration of late, so they’re out. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/3 "2019-12-15T20:31:27Z")
Maybe the officials are just cover and the wives are the real spies. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/4 "2019-12-15T22:32:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Maybe the officials are just cover and the wives are the real spies. Oh yeah, like in that movie, the name of which I can’t mention because doing so would spoil it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/5 "2019-12-15T22:59:26Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Oh yeah, like in that movie, the name of which I can’t mention because doing so would spoil it. _Spy Wives_? I didn’t see that one but the trailer looked interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/6 "2019-12-16T02:04:30Z")
Assuming it wasn’t a genuine mistake and they _were_ spies (I’m not sure why the Chinese would bother), it could have been meant as a social signal that they didn’t intend things to escalate to violence. And to make it less likely that the guards would do so. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/7 "2019-12-16T02:20:41Z")
I would guess that, due to the optics involved, deporting or arresting a woman would look worse than merely deporting or arresting a man. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/8 "2019-12-16T02:45:08Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I would guess that, due to the optics involved, deporting or arresting a woman would look worse than merely deporting or arresting a man. _headscratch_ I don’t see how that follows at all. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/9 "2019-12-16T05:42:48Z")
I can see the logic in bringing the wives along, to look like a family going out for pleasure. It gives a (minimal) amount of cover for saying “oh we just made a mistake, we were just looking for a nice spot to have a picnic.” It’s the kind of thing that might work for a minor offence…like a policeman letting you out of a traffic ticket with just a warning.But on a military base it seems a little unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/10 "2019-12-16T07:20:50Z")
I wonder what happened to the car they were driving. Whose car was it? Was it impounded or confiscated? Did they dismantle it down to the last nut and bolt looking for bugs? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/11 "2019-12-16T12:41:50Z")
No need to think too deeply. The various posts in the thread have answered it. The spouses give somewhat of a cover, and also make it less likely that harder measures would be employed. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/12 "2019-12-16T13:43:43Z")
They were having a lovely outing. They drove onto the base and got themselves arrested so they could expense the trip. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/13 "2019-12-16T14:51:31Z")
My theory; you’re misinterpreting things. The _wives_ are the real spies and the husbands just cover. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/14 "2019-12-16T17:56:14Z")
The Times this morning said that the whole lot of them got expelled, and that they tried to evade the base police and got stopped only by a bunch of vehicles in a roadblock. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/15 "2019-12-16T19:31:31Z")
Based on what Mrs. J. tells me about Chinese women swarming outlet stores, maybe the embassy officials’ wives planned to descend on the PX in search of bargains while their spouses ‘‘accidentally’’ gleaned intelligence on base activities. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-embassy-officials-spies-drive-on-to-us-military-base-why-bring-the-wives/844901/16 "2019-12-19T04:01:35Z")
Let’s just say Chinese would not make such an “honest” mistake in China of trying to drive into a restricted military base or zone. No one is that fucking stupid. Who knows why they pulled this stunt but travelling as “couples” looks a lot more innocent. Since they were embassy folks, they had to have been trained and know there is some stuff you can’t do as a Chinese accredited official in the US.