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Chinese Spies: From Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping
In 1920s Shanghai, Zhou Enlai founded the first Chinese communist spy network, operating in the shadows against nationalists, Western powers and the Japanese. The story of Chinese spies has been a global one from the start.
Unearthing previously unseen papers and interviewing countless insiders, Roger Faligot's astonishing account reveals nothing less than a century of world events shaped by Chinese spies. Working as scientists, journalists, diplomats, foreign students and businessmen, they've been everywhere, from Stalin's purges to 9/11 to Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan. This murky world has swept up Ho Chi Minh, the Clintons and everyone in between, with the action moving from Cambodia to Cambridge, and from the Australian outback to the centres of Western power.
This fascinating narrative exposes the sprawling tentacles of the world's largest intelligence service, from the very birth of communist China to Xi Jinping's absolute rule today.
Unearthing previously unseen papers and interviewing countless insiders, Roger Faligot's astonishing account reveals nothing less than a century of world events shaped by Chinese spies. Working as scientists, journalists, diplomats, foreign students and businessmen, they've been everywhere, from Stalin's purges to 9/11 to Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan. This murky world has swept up Ho Chi Minh, the Clintons and everyone in between, with the action moving from Cambodia to Cambridge, and from the Australian outback to the centres of Western power.
This fascinating narrative exposes the sprawling tentacles of the world's largest intelligence service, from the very birth of communist China to Xi Jinping's absolute rule today.
568 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 28, 2021
On a purely personal level, I don't think I'll ever sleep peacefully in China again knowing that as a frequent foreign visitor probably every hotel room I stay in has been and will be bugged, every hallway and entrance photographed, my messages read, my phone calls listened to, my suitcases searched, my local friends scrutinized . . . and I assure readers I am a very harmless lover of Chinese art and history who rarely strays beyond museums, archaeological sites, temples, tombs, ancient paths, gardens and academic hallways. Surveillance is at such a high level that the U.S. embassy website, reports author Faligot, warns American businesspeople "gallivanting in China" that nearly everything one does will be monitored (p. 388). I read this section and had to put the book down to consider its meaning. This wasn't new news; I was always aware of the watchful eyes when I was staying with foreign service friends as a private guest in China during the weeks leading up to Tiananmen (and the 'too convenient' taxis always waiting outside embassy doors), but not when "gallivanting" about on my own or with friends. Nor do I think I ever really understood the extent and seriousness with which some of my actions may have been interpreted. You walk into a random bookstore; how does one know if it's Falun Gong friendly or not?
Personal travel aside. This is one hell of a book. My first warning to all readers is 'Don't let the trees block your view of the forest'. From the first page, this is an intensely detailed history, as the title promises, of Chinese spies from the 1930s to 2019. The number of names, departments and functionaries that are introduced in the early pages can feel like trudging through deep snow, but keep reading. Just skim over those unfamiliar names if need be; what's important is the larger story as it builds into the creeping awareness of how deep and serious the powerful nations of this planet (not just China but also the USSR, France, the US, Australia...) are committed to, finance, believe in, and are mired in, 'intelligence gathering'. But gentle readers beware: It is also just plain terrifying to read about the ruthlessness of this world--the backstabbing, the jealousies, the purges, the betrayals and murders. It reminded me of the movie title "No Country for Old Men" except in China it seems that it's the old men who rule this world.
There is no doubt author Faligot knows his subject matter; he appears to be friends with everyone 'in the know' on all sides--and is a highly esteemed French investigative reporter whom I doubt is still granted a visa into China. If you've heard whispers about Danone's problems in China, or want to know the full story behind the murder of Neil Haywood or how deep China's paranoia ran before the 2008 Winter Olympics, you'll find the details here although the mystery of missing Flight MH370 with its 153 Chinese national passengers remains open.
I'm not an economist, no longer work in the business world, and am known for telling my friends that my interest in Chinese history ended in 1911 (the fall of the Qing Dynasty), but Chinese Spies was a page-turner. Now to find all those saved calling cards from 30+ years of trips in and out of China to doublecheck against the long index of Chinese spies Faligot identifies. OMG, was that friendly English-speaking taxi driver in Urumqi ...?
Personal travel aside. This is one hell of a book. My first warning to all readers is 'Don't let the trees block your view of the forest'. From the first page, this is an intensely detailed history, as the title promises, of Chinese spies from the 1930s to 2019. The number of names, departments and functionaries that are introduced in the early pages can feel like trudging through deep snow, but keep reading. Just skim over those unfamiliar names if need be; what's important is the larger story as it builds into the creeping awareness of how deep and serious the powerful nations of this planet (not just China but also the USSR, France, the US, Australia...) are committed to, finance, believe in, and are mired in, 'intelligence gathering'. But gentle readers beware: It is also just plain terrifying to read about the ruthlessness of this world--the backstabbing, the jealousies, the purges, the betrayals and murders. It reminded me of the movie title "No Country for Old Men" except in China it seems that it's the old men who rule this world.
There is no doubt author Faligot knows his subject matter; he appears to be friends with everyone 'in the know' on all sides--and is a highly esteemed French investigative reporter whom I doubt is still granted a visa into China. If you've heard whispers about Danone's problems in China, or want to know the full story behind the murder of Neil Haywood or how deep China's paranoia ran before the 2008 Winter Olympics, you'll find the details here although the mystery of missing Flight MH370 with its 153 Chinese national passengers remains open.
I'm not an economist, no longer work in the business world, and am known for telling my friends that my interest in Chinese history ended in 1911 (the fall of the Qing Dynasty), but Chinese Spies was a page-turner. Now to find all those saved calling cards from 30+ years of trips in and out of China to doublecheck against the long index of Chinese spies Faligot identifies. OMG, was that friendly English-speaking taxi driver in Urumqi ...?
December 9, 2022
lots of facts ... not so much coherent analysis
February 10, 2020
Anyone following news in the UK will know that Boris Johnson and his Tory government are embroiled in a row over Huawei's role in the country's 5G network.
Johnson has ignored protests and advice - as well as an apparently 'apoplectic' Trump - and gone ahead with a deal which Johnson claims is a safe compromise.
But we can't take Johnson's word for it - the man's a proven and inveterate liar.
While I admit I would do practically anything to upset the egregious Mr Trump and his administration (along with the mendacious and far-right Johnson), I don't know enough about Huawei's products and services to hold an opinion.
Until now.
I'm in the process of reading the extraordinary, revolutionary and encyclopedic 'Chinese Spies from Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping' by Roger Faligot, the English edition having been published in Australia and New Zealand by Scribe this year. The translator of the original French is Natasha Lehrer.
It's an enormous, dense work. It's not always easy to read, especially if one isn't familiar with Chinese names, history and culture. I was a little confused by the backwards-and-forwards of the timeline and the author's oft-repeated word 'meanwhile...' and had to go back and forth trying to pin down the year of one event or another.
But the book is a magnificent body of research, an education in itself, and a frankly a very scary one.
For a start, Chinese intelligence isn't simply a tool, a service, a supplementary method of the PRC. It's central to the very being of a state that was born in clandestine circumstances. It's the essence of Chinese domestic control as well as its global ambitions. Its leaders past and present were born, raised and trained in intelligence work. It informs everything they do and Faligot is especially good at tracking family and clan ties with the multi-headed hydra and shifting landscape of Chinese intelligence.
This means there's no data control, no limit on what is, or is not, considered appropriate for intelligence gathering. It's what Faligot calls the 'sea lamprey' tactic.
Huawei Technologies was founded in 1987 by a former PLA officer, Ran Zhenfei, in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and it is, the author tells us, the perfect symbol of China profiting from, and buying up, the rest of the world.
By the early 2000s, Huawei counted 31 of the top 50 telecoms operators among its customers. It had about 30,000 researchers worldwide. Some 62,000 employee worked in R&D.
By 2018, its workforce had tripled in size to 180,000 globally with 79,000 in R&D.
'Its competitors are convinced that it exploits every kind of technological intelligence strategy, pointing out that it has shown very little concern for geopolitical ethics since it signed lucrative contracts with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the Taliban in 2001 to set up both civilian and military communications networks.'
He adds: 'As Deng Xiaoping liked to say, it doesn't matter if a cat is black or grey - so long as it catches mice.'
Huawei has developed a gigantic business intelligence apparatus to unearth everything about its competitors, its potential markets and the R&D of other companies it is interested in buying.
'..this apparatus also works to the benefit of the state apparatus, including the PLA - in which Ren still serves as an officer in the reserves - and of course, unavoidably in China, the CCP.'
It 'presumably enables access to vast amounts of personal data. It is difficult to know what to make of this last point - especially if one thinks of the potential overlap with ministries like the Guoanbu (intelligence) and the PLA's 3rd department, in charge of communications warfare.'
The author points out that in 2013, the Joint Intelligence Committee, which co-ordinates security and intelligence in the UK, warned that in case of cyber-attack 'it would be very difficult to detect or prevent and could enable the Chinese to intercept covertly or disrupt traffic passing through Huawei-supplied networks.'
The French prime minister's General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN) suspected Huawei of being a Trojan horse that provided Beijing with the ability to freeze 5G networks in case of conflict, while French intelligence (DGSE) uncovered efforts by Huawei agents to build a private biographical data system on leaders of French competitor Orange.
'Together with the Australians, Germans and other European security services agree that, despite disclaimers by its leaders, Huawei was intimately linked to the PLA interception and cyberwar effort'.
Maybe - just maybe - Mr Trump and his meretricious aides are right after all, at least on this issue.
Johnson has ignored protests and advice - as well as an apparently 'apoplectic' Trump - and gone ahead with a deal which Johnson claims is a safe compromise.
But we can't take Johnson's word for it - the man's a proven and inveterate liar.
While I admit I would do practically anything to upset the egregious Mr Trump and his administration (along with the mendacious and far-right Johnson), I don't know enough about Huawei's products and services to hold an opinion.
Until now.
I'm in the process of reading the extraordinary, revolutionary and encyclopedic 'Chinese Spies from Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping' by Roger Faligot, the English edition having been published in Australia and New Zealand by Scribe this year. The translator of the original French is Natasha Lehrer.
It's an enormous, dense work. It's not always easy to read, especially if one isn't familiar with Chinese names, history and culture. I was a little confused by the backwards-and-forwards of the timeline and the author's oft-repeated word 'meanwhile...' and had to go back and forth trying to pin down the year of one event or another.
But the book is a magnificent body of research, an education in itself, and a frankly a very scary one.
For a start, Chinese intelligence isn't simply a tool, a service, a supplementary method of the PRC. It's central to the very being of a state that was born in clandestine circumstances. It's the essence of Chinese domestic control as well as its global ambitions. Its leaders past and present were born, raised and trained in intelligence work. It informs everything they do and Faligot is especially good at tracking family and clan ties with the multi-headed hydra and shifting landscape of Chinese intelligence.
This means there's no data control, no limit on what is, or is not, considered appropriate for intelligence gathering. It's what Faligot calls the 'sea lamprey' tactic.
Huawei Technologies was founded in 1987 by a former PLA officer, Ran Zhenfei, in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and it is, the author tells us, the perfect symbol of China profiting from, and buying up, the rest of the world.
By the early 2000s, Huawei counted 31 of the top 50 telecoms operators among its customers. It had about 30,000 researchers worldwide. Some 62,000 employee worked in R&D.
By 2018, its workforce had tripled in size to 180,000 globally with 79,000 in R&D.
'Its competitors are convinced that it exploits every kind of technological intelligence strategy, pointing out that it has shown very little concern for geopolitical ethics since it signed lucrative contracts with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the Taliban in 2001 to set up both civilian and military communications networks.'
He adds: 'As Deng Xiaoping liked to say, it doesn't matter if a cat is black or grey - so long as it catches mice.'
Huawei has developed a gigantic business intelligence apparatus to unearth everything about its competitors, its potential markets and the R&D of other companies it is interested in buying.
'..this apparatus also works to the benefit of the state apparatus, including the PLA - in which Ren still serves as an officer in the reserves - and of course, unavoidably in China, the CCP.'
It 'presumably enables access to vast amounts of personal data. It is difficult to know what to make of this last point - especially if one thinks of the potential overlap with ministries like the Guoanbu (intelligence) and the PLA's 3rd department, in charge of communications warfare.'
The author points out that in 2013, the Joint Intelligence Committee, which co-ordinates security and intelligence in the UK, warned that in case of cyber-attack 'it would be very difficult to detect or prevent and could enable the Chinese to intercept covertly or disrupt traffic passing through Huawei-supplied networks.'
The French prime minister's General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN) suspected Huawei of being a Trojan horse that provided Beijing with the ability to freeze 5G networks in case of conflict, while French intelligence (DGSE) uncovered efforts by Huawei agents to build a private biographical data system on leaders of French competitor Orange.
'Together with the Australians, Germans and other European security services agree that, despite disclaimers by its leaders, Huawei was intimately linked to the PLA interception and cyberwar effort'.
Maybe - just maybe - Mr Trump and his meretricious aides are right after all, at least on this issue.
Read
September 15, 2021Chinese Spies is an astounding and unmatched source book on the extraordinary reach of the PRC’s intelligence network. Roger Faligot explains in colourful detail the complex links between the spy agencies, the Party, the Party leaders, Chinese companies and the People’s Liberation Army. At once fascinating and chilling, it’s a book I found hard to put down.
Clive Hamilton, author of Silent Invasion
Roger Faligot fuses an encyclopaedic knowledge of this murky world and its characters with anecdotes that are sometimes comical and often colourful.
Le Point
The expert Roger Faligot offers an enthralling, years-long investigation into the Chinese secret services, delving behind the scenes of Beijing’s global strategy.
Le Parisien
China is not just a country with intelligence services, but rather an intelligence state. In this wide-ranging book, Faligot traces this trajectory from pre-revolutionary Shanghai to the present and reveals a phenomenon for which the West is ill-prepared.
Nigel Inkster, Former Director of Operations and Intelligence, MI6, and Director of Transnational Threats & Political Risk, IISS
A landmark book.’
Paris Match
French journalist Roger Faligot's history of Chinese intelligence from 1921 to the present day is teeming with revelations.
Intellignce Online
Roger Faligot has produced a book stuffed full of scoops on the Chinese secret services.
Métro
The unstoppable rise of the Chinese secret service has seen it grow greater in size than all other intelligence services worldwide ... Roger Faligot’s study traces in full the history of an organisation that has long been successfully diversifying into technological and economic warfare in a new long-term strategy. As Faligot puts it, ‘China’s manpower is unrivalled’, and its vast diaspora network is unique. [Its agents] play a decisive role in conquering new fossil fuel sources; in saturating foreign markets; and in conquering the global cellphone market. Now is the time urgently to read this absolutely fascinating and highly valuable study.
No stone is left unturned in Faligot’s astounding and exhaustive who’s who of Chinese espionage. The revelations prove as scary as the revolutions. Anyone inclined to welcome China’s rediscovered world stature needs to read this book.
John Keay, author of China: A History
Faligot’s detailed and fascinating account of Chinese espionage over the past century argues that “today the community of Chinese security and intelligence services is the largest in the world” … impressive in its level of detail.
Rana Mitter, The Sunday Times
A French journalist and longtime China watcher, Faligot has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of China’s spy agencies. In an area where so much of even the distant historical record is strictly off-limits, his extensive research will be useful to academics.
Geoff Dyer, Financial Times
Faligot, an intrepid researcher, has for 40 years constructed an encyclopaedic private archive of Chinese intelligence … The result, Chinese Spies, is an enjoyable treasure trove. Parts of it read like a work of anthropology, an account of the competing spy tribes of communist China, their chieftains and totems. Through this prism … he tells the story of a nation that, while seeking superpower status, is still slave to self-doubt.
Roger Boyes, Weekend Australian
With increasing tensions in the trade war between America and China, concerns about the future of democracy in Hong Kong, and the controversy surrounding Huawei's 5G mobile networks, Chinese Spies is a very timely and important book.’
Andrew Lownie, Wall Street Journal
This book could not be more timely … [it] includes fascinating spy stories … and colourful characters.
Asian Review of Books
Faligot, an intrepid French researcher, has for 40 years constructed an encyclopaedic private archive of Chinese intelligence … Chinese Spies, is an enjoyable treasure trove of conspiracy theories … spicy enough to keep the general reader awake at night.
The Times
Mr Faligot writes evocatively … [Chinese Spies is an] engrossing book.
The Economist
This is an intense book. [Chinese Spies] is the result of huge research but also demonstrates the author’s immense knowledge of the politics, attitudes and identities of the political elite of the People’s Republic of China.
Asian Affairs Journal
This is a detailed overview of a difficult topic and certainly an important source for those wanting to study China’s agencies in more detail. … Faligot and Lehrer have done an important job in producing an English-language edition of the earlier book, which will act as a starting point for historians and anyone interested in China’s “secret state” in future.
Diplomacy & Statecraft
Clive Hamilton, author of Silent Invasion
Roger Faligot fuses an encyclopaedic knowledge of this murky world and its characters with anecdotes that are sometimes comical and often colourful.
Le Point
The expert Roger Faligot offers an enthralling, years-long investigation into the Chinese secret services, delving behind the scenes of Beijing’s global strategy.
Le Parisien
China is not just a country with intelligence services, but rather an intelligence state. In this wide-ranging book, Faligot traces this trajectory from pre-revolutionary Shanghai to the present and reveals a phenomenon for which the West is ill-prepared.
Nigel Inkster, Former Director of Operations and Intelligence, MI6, and Director of Transnational Threats & Political Risk, IISS
A landmark book.’
Paris Match
French journalist Roger Faligot's history of Chinese intelligence from 1921 to the present day is teeming with revelations.
Intellignce Online
Roger Faligot has produced a book stuffed full of scoops on the Chinese secret services.
Métro
The unstoppable rise of the Chinese secret service has seen it grow greater in size than all other intelligence services worldwide ... Roger Faligot’s study traces in full the history of an organisation that has long been successfully diversifying into technological and economic warfare in a new long-term strategy. As Faligot puts it, ‘China’s manpower is unrivalled’, and its vast diaspora network is unique. [Its agents] play a decisive role in conquering new fossil fuel sources; in saturating foreign markets; and in conquering the global cellphone market. Now is the time urgently to read this absolutely fascinating and highly valuable study.
No stone is left unturned in Faligot’s astounding and exhaustive who’s who of Chinese espionage. The revelations prove as scary as the revolutions. Anyone inclined to welcome China’s rediscovered world stature needs to read this book.
John Keay, author of China: A History
Faligot’s detailed and fascinating account of Chinese espionage over the past century argues that “today the community of Chinese security and intelligence services is the largest in the world” … impressive in its level of detail.
Rana Mitter, The Sunday Times
A French journalist and longtime China watcher, Faligot has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of China’s spy agencies. In an area where so much of even the distant historical record is strictly off-limits, his extensive research will be useful to academics.
Geoff Dyer, Financial Times
Faligot, an intrepid researcher, has for 40 years constructed an encyclopaedic private archive of Chinese intelligence … The result, Chinese Spies, is an enjoyable treasure trove. Parts of it read like a work of anthropology, an account of the competing spy tribes of communist China, their chieftains and totems. Through this prism … he tells the story of a nation that, while seeking superpower status, is still slave to self-doubt.
Roger Boyes, Weekend Australian
With increasing tensions in the trade war between America and China, concerns about the future of democracy in Hong Kong, and the controversy surrounding Huawei's 5G mobile networks, Chinese Spies is a very timely and important book.’
Andrew Lownie, Wall Street Journal
This book could not be more timely … [it] includes fascinating spy stories … and colourful characters.
Asian Review of Books
Faligot, an intrepid French researcher, has for 40 years constructed an encyclopaedic private archive of Chinese intelligence … Chinese Spies, is an enjoyable treasure trove of conspiracy theories … spicy enough to keep the general reader awake at night.
The Times
Mr Faligot writes evocatively … [Chinese Spies is an] engrossing book.
The Economist
This is an intense book. [Chinese Spies] is the result of huge research but also demonstrates the author’s immense knowledge of the politics, attitudes and identities of the political elite of the People’s Republic of China.
Asian Affairs Journal
This is a detailed overview of a difficult topic and certainly an important source for those wanting to study China’s agencies in more detail. … Faligot and Lehrer have done an important job in producing an English-language edition of the earlier book, which will act as a starting point for historians and anyone interested in China’s “secret state” in future.
Diplomacy & Statecraft
January 28, 2023
China, Covering Mao to Falun Gong by Faligot
This book is a comprehensive and well-researched book that delves into the world of Chinese espionage. The book provides an in-depth look at the history of Chinese intelligence operations, from the days of Chairman Mao to the present era under President Xi Jinping.
The author, Roger Faligot, is a renowned expert on intelligence and has a deep understanding of the subject matter. He presents a detailed and nuanced account of the evolution of Chinese espionage, highlighting the key players, events, and strategies that have shaped the country's intelligence apparatus over the years.
The book is rich in historical detail and provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of Chinese spies and the operations of their cadres.
One of the strengths of the book is its ability to provide insight into the inner workings of the Chinese intelligence community.
Faligot provides a comprehensive analysis of the different agencies, their roles, and their relationship with the government.
The book is also a valuable resource for understanding the current Chinese political landscape and its implications for the global community.
The book covers the intelligence operations and strategies of the current Chinese government and how it is impacting the world.
The book is a well-written, informative, and engaging read that provides a unique perspective on the world of Chinese espionage.
It is a must-read for anyone interested in intelligence and international relations, as well as anyone looking to understand the inner workings of the Chinese government.
4.2/5
This book is a comprehensive and well-researched book that delves into the world of Chinese espionage. The book provides an in-depth look at the history of Chinese intelligence operations, from the days of Chairman Mao to the present era under President Xi Jinping.
The author, Roger Faligot, is a renowned expert on intelligence and has a deep understanding of the subject matter. He presents a detailed and nuanced account of the evolution of Chinese espionage, highlighting the key players, events, and strategies that have shaped the country's intelligence apparatus over the years.
The book is rich in historical detail and provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of Chinese spies and the operations of their cadres.
One of the strengths of the book is its ability to provide insight into the inner workings of the Chinese intelligence community.
Faligot provides a comprehensive analysis of the different agencies, their roles, and their relationship with the government.
The book is also a valuable resource for understanding the current Chinese political landscape and its implications for the global community.
The book covers the intelligence operations and strategies of the current Chinese government and how it is impacting the world.
The book is a well-written, informative, and engaging read that provides a unique perspective on the world of Chinese espionage.
It is a must-read for anyone interested in intelligence and international relations, as well as anyone looking to understand the inner workings of the Chinese government.
4.2/5
February 4, 2021
at times somewhat sensationalist but on the whole, important details are correct. the history is especially insightful for Chinese intelligence operations today.
November 7, 2021
Thick book going chronologically from the founding of the CCP to modern day.
Kinda confusing with the opaque mix of intelligence institutions and bodies. I'm still not clear who is responsible for what. But I guess that's the point.
Also interesting to read about the MO of intelligence being collected from more "ordinary" Chinese sources abroad - sea lamprey tactics.
Lots of case studies and stories - some of which were pretty entertaining to read.
Probably would've been better if I'd gone in with better foundational knowledge.
The modern bits talking about the political power base surrounding Xi Jinping was pretty interesting as well.
Kinda confusing with the opaque mix of intelligence institutions and bodies. I'm still not clear who is responsible for what. But I guess that's the point.
Also interesting to read about the MO of intelligence being collected from more "ordinary" Chinese sources abroad - sea lamprey tactics.
Lots of case studies and stories - some of which were pretty entertaining to read.
Probably would've been better if I'd gone in with better foundational knowledge.
The modern bits talking about the political power base surrounding Xi Jinping was pretty interesting as well.
September 10, 2023
An account of the evolution of Chinese intelligence agencies over the years. An ok read.
April 10, 2024
A sober, well-researched accounting of the Communist Party of China’s spy apparatus, from its origins in the 1920s to present day. China’s ambitions are great but not benign. Governments and private corporations alike should be aware if not on high alert. But no one is spied on more than the Chinese people themselves. The omnipresent Ministry of State Security, the "Guoanbu," permeates every aspect of life.
July 29, 2019
Il est intéressant de prendre connaissance et de comprendre les enjeux historiques de l'espionnage en Chine. L'auteur relate qu'il fut un temps où Washington espérait modeler à sa façon la montée de la Chine et semble maintenant coincé avec cette idée.
Le grand intérêt de ce livre est que l'auteur décrit comment les Washington craint des états qui se dotent de moyens agressifs de surveillance et d'intelligence afin de parvenir à ses fins, et que désormais, l'acronyme «Guoanbu», en chinois simplifié : 国家安全部, en pinyin : Guójiā Ānquánbù), fait partie de notre vocabulaire familier comme l'était au siècle dernier CIA, KGB, M16.
Le grand intérêt de ce livre est que l'auteur décrit comment les Washington craint des états qui se dotent de moyens agressifs de surveillance et d'intelligence afin de parvenir à ses fins, et que désormais, l'acronyme «Guoanbu», en chinois simplifié : 国家安全部, en pinyin : Guójiā Ānquánbù), fait partie de notre vocabulaire familier comme l'était au siècle dernier CIA, KGB, M16.
July 26, 2025
The subject matter of the book is of clandestine nature and lay readers like us have no way of cross checking most of its myriad claims. But as one wades through this tome, stuffed with mind boggling personnel details, one started to encounter obvious inconsistencies, falsehood and bias. Some small things like author calls “ruijin province”. Well there had never been a province called Rui Jin nor will there ever be one. It is a small city. Now if this sounds like a petty detail, how about authors claims the then 380+ warheads were targeted at Taiwan (?!) not at other nuclear powers, other than being sensationalist I can’t find an excuse for such naïveté. Author’s bias is also becoming patently clear as the timeline shifts to modern China. Take the ELINT/SIGINT operations, he first started to describe us and Australian spy ships dozen miles off Chinese coast, and then Chinese who built the same types of reconnaissance ships years later are somehow up to some nefarious deeds? One of the small but significant , I detect a throwaway jab author, a Frenchman , stabbed between the pages is: “Chinese navigation satellite system copied Galileo”. anyone interested in gps, glonaas, beidou, Galileo system would know , beidou and Galileo (European space agency) had a brief contract to share tech but that fell apart very quickly precisely because ESA didn’t want to share any tech. Nevertheless, beidou phase 1 started in 2000, Galileo launched its first satellite in 2005. Beidou completed its phase 3 in 2020, Galileo system is still being completed. Even chronology doesn’t support the author’s claim. I would have given this 1 star if not for some curious claims author made. Admittedly intelligence work by a major nation is too vast to cover and too rich in materials. But a laundry list approach isn’t all that illuminating.
October 9, 2024
"Chinese Spies" by Roger Faligot is packed with info about Chinese spying from the 1920s to now. It's clear the author did a ton of research, digging up lots of details about China's spy activities over the years.
The book covers a lot of ground, from old-school spy networks to modern-day cyber attacks. If you're really into intelligence stuff, you'll probably find this book super useful.
But for the average reader, it might be a tough go. There's almost too much information, and the story jumps around in time a lot. It can be hard to follow and, honestly, kind of boring in parts. There are some interesting bits, but you have to wade through a lot of dry stuff to get to them.
The big takeaway is that China is really good at spying. The book makes that clear with tons of examples.
Bottom line: If you're an intelligence pro or really into this topic, go for it. For everyone else, be ready for a dense, sometimes confusing read. It's more of a reference book than a page-turner.
The book covers a lot of ground, from old-school spy networks to modern-day cyber attacks. If you're really into intelligence stuff, you'll probably find this book super useful.
But for the average reader, it might be a tough go. There's almost too much information, and the story jumps around in time a lot. It can be hard to follow and, honestly, kind of boring in parts. There are some interesting bits, but you have to wade through a lot of dry stuff to get to them.
The big takeaway is that China is really good at spying. The book makes that clear with tons of examples.
Bottom line: If you're an intelligence pro or really into this topic, go for it. For everyone else, be ready for a dense, sometimes confusing read. It's more of a reference book than a page-turner.
December 8, 2021
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下载2:libgen,libgen的域名已经全部被block了,需要科学上网
下载3:[Saturn (fleek.co)](https://misty-meadow-6745.on.fleek.co...)
March 21, 2022
Extrêmement bien documenté, ce livre en devient malheureusement assez pénible à lire, la multitude de personnalités, de dates et de de noms de départements s'étalant sur les 600 pages rendant le tout assez aride.
Dommage, car le fond est très intéressant (certaines anecdotes décrites dans le livre valent le détour), mais la forme est pour moi trop défaillante que pour mériter une meilleure note.
Dommage, car le fond est très intéressant (certaines anecdotes décrites dans le livre valent le détour), mais la forme est pour moi trop défaillante que pour mériter une meilleure note.
April 22, 2020
Reader likely has difficulty keeping up with all the characters or following the many similarly named foreign spy agencies. Interesting stories but seemed stretched to correlate. Still worth the read
May 7, 2020
Incredibly detailed book which was hard to following in the beginning but as you find your rhythm you find it hard to put down. Some of the stories Roger has detailed will blow your mind and make you question everything that seems logical. 100% recommend this book
July 25, 2021
The author provides a lot a information about the Chinese secret services, but he tends to forget summarizing these information which makes the main thread of the story difficult to follow. I would say that book is very interesting but also pretty difficult to read.
June 16, 2022
L'auteur, spécialiste international de ce sujet, nous livre la référence du genre. L'ouvrage, complet et agréable à lire nous permet de découvrir les services secrets chinois et leur importance pour la chine d'aujourd'hui et de demain ! Un récit fascinant que je recommande vivement.
August 21, 2020
Livre passionnant et d'actualité. À noter, cette version de 2019 traite donc de nouvelles informations qui n'y avaient pas dans la version de 2008.
July 13, 2016
Bourré d'informations un peu désorganisées allant du sensationnel aux plus menus détails du renseignement, de manière qu'un lecteur patient à l'esprit critique pourra en tirer de riches connaissances de ce sujet assez mal couvert en langues occidentales. Les répétitions constantes et la manque presque totale de structure ne m'ont cependant pas empêché de finir ce livre avec plaisir et profit.
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