Wen Ho Lee News Articles Collection

Wen Ho Lee (1939-) is a Taiwanese American nuclear physicist and former employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. After compiling rudimentary intelligence that a Chinese spy had obtained design plans for the W-88, America’s most advanced nuclear warhead, the FBI launched Operation Kindred Spirit in 1996. Lee was racially profiled and was the sole suspect during the investigation, despite there being no conclusive evidence indicating he was a spy or that he had shared nuclear secrets.

On March 6, 1999, details of the investigation were leaked to the New York Times which published the article, “BREACH AT LOS ALAMOS: A special report.; China Stole Nuclear Secrets For Bombs, U.S. Aides Say.” Two days later, the Times released Lee’s name to the public, inciting a media frenzy and immense public outcry against Lee for his alleged crimes.

On December 10, 1999, Lee was arrested and placed in solitary confinement; however, the FBI’s case crumbled due to lack of evidence, and soon the organization came under scrutiny for their handling of the investigation. Lee eventually won his freedom, but the case provoked a larger discussion around racial profiling in law enforcement as well as the media’s role in facilitating Sinophobia and defaming Lee via premature reporting.

This collection contains a bound compilation of news articles curated by former Graduate Scholar in A/P/A Archives, Dylan Yeats, regarding the Wen Ho Lee case, including the 1999 New York Times article.

The Wen Ho Lee Media Collection is housed on site at the A/P/A Institute, located at 20 Cooper Square, third floor, New York, New York. If you would like to access or learn more about the collection, please fill out our Archives Inquiry Form.

Image: Friends and allies of CAA, including Helen Zia, at a San Francisco demonstration, protesting the incarceration of Wen Ho Lee (1999); Chinese for Affirmative Action. Accessed May 6, 2025.