Well known US journalist Bill Gertz on November 8, 2017, wrote that hundreds of Chinese government analysts worked nonstop for months studying every detail on President Trump in preparation for his state visit to China this week. A special government unit linked to the Chinese military is code-named Skyheart and made up some 350 officials who work around the clock at a secret facility in western Beijing called Western Hills, site of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) general staff headquarters where China's underground nuclear command and control complex is based, according to a person familiar with the operation. Skyheart was first set up around 2012 and focuses exclusively on providing intelligence and information on foreign leaders to senior Communist Party and military leaders. The analysts have been closely studying everything about Trump in preparation for the summit. No information is too trivial for the group, including Trump's habits, his likes and dislikes, the books he reads, television programs he watches, food preferences, favorite clothes, and brand names of products he prefers. The group also studies videos and photographs for clues to Trump's personality. Citing people familiar with the Skyheart programme, Gertz said the open-source intelligence program, along with traditional human, electronic, and cyber spying, is a major focus of Chinese civilian and military leaders who regard the United States as China's main enemy and most important intelligence target. Beijing's other priority targets are Taiwan, Russia, and Japan. It could not be learned if Skyheart operates as part of the civilian Ministry of State Security or the PLA intelligence service, recently renamed the Joint Staff Department Intelligence Bureau.
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