Just a lil' pushback, if I may : )

Another thing he was going on about which means nothing at all was how honest Asians are. First of all, this doesn't apply to intelligence agencies; their business is lying so it's a ridiculous assertion.

To a certain extent, Pepe is unique, and he forms his opinions on the ground, so to speak. This or that intelligence agency is just chaff methinks.

Secondly, just for one example, the concept of face doesn't just mean not looking foolish or not "losing face". In a lot of Asian cultures (Thai, Japanese and Korean to varying extents) if they think telling you the truth about something will cause you sadness/emotional pain they will avoid that by telling you a milder version or a white lie.

True, to a certain extent. I've dealt with all 3 mentioned. I also had responses that were brutally honest from intellectuals in some of these. Pepe spent 30 odd years dealing with these guys in the East ..

I think he's been had here; either someone fed his sources B.S. or his sources fed him B.S.

Maybe. I am not discounting it.