In-depth research and scholarship have made this book a fascinating account of the role of intelligence services in China during the turbulent past century, writes Parimal Maya Sudhakar Chinese Spies: From chairman Mao to Xi Jinping Roger Faligot Harper Collins Rs.699 616 pages The rise of a nation in international politics is measured by its hard and soft power, and the effectiveness of its intelligence services. It is surprising that discussions on the rise of China in the 21st century have been centred more on its hard and soft power, but barely on the Chinese intelligence service. The CIA of the United States, KGB of Russia, MI6 of Britain, Mossad of Israel, DGSE of France, Naicho of Japan, and even MJIB of Taiwan, as well as RAW in India, are wellknown names in the world of spies and espionage. On the other hand, China’s Guoanbu is rarely mentioned in international relations discussions. This vacuum is substantially filled by Roger Faligot in this book under review. Guoanbu has been remarkably successful in keeping itself out of the limelight outside China. Faligot’s account is a serious and detailed work to uncover the pervasive presence of the secret service in Chinese society as well as the world beyond. Guoanbu, the short form of Guojia Anquanbu, i.e, ministry of state security, was formed in the early 1980s under the supervision of the great reformer Deng Xiaoping. This was the fifth modernisation silently initiated by Deng together with the famous four modernisations of industry, agriculture, science and technology, and military. Deng got rid of Maoist influence in the intelligence service by rebuilding it through the Guoanbu. After Deng passed on in 1997, his successor Jiang Zemin paid special attention to new domains such as cyber warfare, which is now one of the major strengths of China’s secret service. The book is divided into three parts. The first part comprises six chapters, which narrate the complex details of the intelligence wing, how the intelligence services were used by the CPC (Communist Party of China) leadership from the days of the Long March to the Tiananmen protests, and preparations for the takeover of Hong Kong from the British. In 1984, the Ministry of State Security was restructured as Guoanbu and deployed in Hong Kong to prepare the ground for the peaceful transfer of the island to China in 1997. The Tiananmen protests of 1989 however, dented the image of Deng Xiaoping in the western world and apprehensions emerged about the future of Hong Kong. However, it was prime minister Zhou Enlai, who had laid the foundations of the Guoanbu. During his long innings as the prime minister of China (1949-1976), he was chief diplomat in charge of China’s diplomatic missions abroad and foreign policy. The success of the 1949 Revolution was used in a masterly way by Zhou in spreading the influence of the CPC in most of the third world countries as well as in courting East European governments. In India, Zhou executed Mao’s orders to…
