History of Intelligence in China

Ancient Chinese texts document some of the first-known intelligence operations and tradecraft in history. Classic strategic texts from the Chinese canon describe state use of espionage, deception, sabotage, and other unconventional methods for achieving superiority over enemies. These texts have influenced Chinese leaders throughout history and continue to do so. However, nothing approaching the level of transparency about intelligence practices found in ancient texts still exists today. The leaders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) hold the state’s intelligence practices as a deep secret, and they have rarely allowed or facilitated the open release of details that scholars can typically find for other countries’ intelligence regimes. Thus, this subfield of Chinese history can be difficult for scholars to explore. Moreover, bibliographies focused on Chinese intelligence can look sparse relative to the long lists of books, articles, and databases that focus on less sensitive topics such as Chinese politics, strategy, economics, or even military issues. The expansion of the Internet and social media has facilitated the development of new research and sharing of resources on Chinese intelligence, largely by scholars outside China. Scholars within China face serious limitations on what they can publish about intelligence history. The Internet has enabled new connections between scholars that have both refined and expanded understanding of how the PRC has pursued intelligence since the establishment of the country in 1949. Scholars outside China now have a consensus that the PRC defines intelligence practices differently than most Western countries, with expectations that often recall the practices for unconventional warfare described in the ancient military texts. At the same time, most scholars agree that China’s intelligence capabilities and appetite for pursuing foreign intelligence operations are greater than observers assumed in the 1990s and 2000s. From the use of cyber warfare and influence operations to economic and technical espionage, PRC intelligence activities have raised a profile that has recently allowed the subfield of Chinese intelligence studies to expand, but this subfield of historical study is not what most would consider expansive. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense, the US government, US Air Force Academy, or US Air Force.