American citizens are recruited to carry out Beijing’s dirty work on home soil. A Florida correctional officer poses as an art dealer, exposing the murky world of transnational repression and China’s shadow war.

This is part two of a three part series. To listen to all episodes today, and enjoy the Slow Newscast ad-free, subscribe to The Observer and use the code AUDIO50 to get 50% off your annual subscription.

You’ll get access to:

This series and all our podcasts before anyone else

Ad-free listening

Premium newsletters

Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword

Exclusive offers from our partners

Tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online

Or subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen to all our podcasts, including this one, without any ads.

Reporters - Alexi Mostrous and Frankie Vetch

Producer - Jonathan Lewis

Additional production - Amalie Sortland

Sound design - Dominic Delargy

Podcast illustration - Shonagh Rae

Editor - Jasper Corbett

Credits - CNBC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.