Chinese Intelligence Operations

by Nicholas Eftimiades

A long-term member of US intelligence agencies warns against the infiltration of foreign governments and private businesses by Chinese agents, which he says has been going on unnoticed and unabated for decades while the West was distracted by the Soviets.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Politics, Espionage

169 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 1994

Reviews

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

more on Chinese spy structure and less spying examples than I would have preferred

UPDATE ... as I get closer to including Chinese espionage episodes in my novel-in-process, I re-read this book and now I find it much more useful ... one of my characters is being taught the techniques of espionage survival and his lessons are well documented in Eftimiades book

[Jeff Bonasse · Rating 4 out of 5]

What?

Nicholas Eftimiades wrote a wonderful story, but mine must be missing the final pages because... well just because and I think he knows what I am talking about. Anyway brilliant story, fun, humorous, well thought out and interesting, but if I meet Mr. Eftimiades he and I will be having an in depth discussion about endings.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely well written; concise and informative with just enough anecdotes.

[Ishmael Soledad · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy to read, if outdated (1994) study of Chinese Intelligence Operations. Due (I think) to the paucity of data and that China was only "open" to the Western World for 20 years at that stage, there is a great deal of speculation and inference built into the analysis; but, again, this is the intelligence analyst's standard practice.

Today (2021) the main interest in this work is as a back-stop allowing perspective on current Chinese activities. And although the specifics may not hold, the general thrust of why and how does still hold water.

[Gerrit G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book describes the situation ~25 years ago. The author makes the judgement that the Chinese operation "comes of age" as it apparently wasn't international in his perception before. The descriptions of what the Chinese intelligence operation encompasses tells otherwise. I see a lot of analogies of how, say, the Israelian or European services work: despite the many hostiles China got and the burdensome bureaucracy.

[Revelation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chinese Intelligence Operations by Nicholas Eftimiades is a comprehensive work that details the objectives, organization, and methods of the Chinese intelligence community both inside China and abroad.
The book is more of a scholarly work, written by a sinologist who is still an active member of the U.S. intelligence community. This book is not for the average spy novel fan out there looking for something to read. However, if you are a real-world intel fan or a China watcher, this book is a must read.

Since publication in the mid-90s, the names may have changed but the game undoubtedly has not. The U.S. still has tens of thousands of Chinese students in the country each year, many in areas of study that could be useful to the Chinese military and intelligence apparatus. Chinese-controlled front companies continue to provide access to U.S. capital markets.

In his conclusion, Eftimiades states that even though many of the Chinese intelligence operations are
poorly conceived and executed, some of them are bound to succeed due to the sheer volume of resources at their disposal. Eftimiades also claims that Chinese intelligence operations will become more sophisticated (I wonder if the designers of China's new stealth aircraft came up with it all on their own, or if they had a little help from their friends in the intel community) and will continue to repress their own people to maintain control (pick up a newspaper any day of the week and read about the latest Chinese dissident being jailed.

In all, this is an excellent scholarly work that continues to ring as true now as it did when it was first published in 1994.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Eftimiades presents an overview of the People’s Republic of China’s intelligence operations as it stood a few years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and soon after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident. His writing is objective, scholarly, detailed and very readable. Over half the book consist of detailed summaries of the various military and civil agencies engaged in information gathering complete with organizational charts and the names of the people in charge and their mode and scope of operations. Reading it eleven years after publication means that much of the information is dated, and yet it remains a fascinating and detailed history of the recent past. More interesting is the first part of the book where the author presents the history for the People’s Republic’s use of espionage and propaganda on domestic and foreign soil. Including its techniques for recruiting spies and informants, and its tradecraft which Eftimiades finds wanting. As he puts it in his final summary:

PRC intelligence operations in Western nations are characteristically poorly conceived and executed. This is not to say that PRC intelligence services have not succeeded in in exploiting friendly relations with Western nations and secretly extracting information from private and government operations by manipulating foreign governments through paramilitary training efforts, arms sales, technology transfers, and disinformation campaigns. It is, however, not the quality but the sheer number of these operations that enable a portion of them to succeed. (pages 113-114)

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't recall much here; was reading this back when I was reading other books such as The Chinese Secret Service - Kang Sheng and the Shadow Government in Red China and A History of the Chinese Secret Service. Good (as I remember), but more "current" than "historical," which is what I was interested in back then.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most well known of its kind. It is 15 years old and still a bible for US Intelligence. Eftimiades examines the China's Intelligence structure and its many subordinate organs in great detail. This book is a must for serious intelligence students. Case studies are analyzed and the structure of the apparatus is dissected.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eftimiades examines China's Intelligence structure and its many subordinate organs in great detail. This book is a must for serious intelligence students. This book remains a bible for Intelligence Services all over the world. Case studies are given and the organizational apparatus is dissected.

[Thomas Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and well-written, and the author has had a lot of experience in this field. However, since it was published in 1994, it's also pretty outdated. I hope the author comes out with a new edition soon.

[Debris Of A Mask Factory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knowledge stands as a monument to those who create it. Recommended if you're interested in the aggressive and unconstrained pursuit of knowledge.