Podcast
Oct 7, 2026 · 43 min · 9 segments
**Roger Faligot’s text** examines the **historical development of Chinese espionage** from its origins in the early twentieth century to its modern incarnation under **President Xi Jinping**. The…
To really grasp the scale of what we're talking about today, I think we need to look at how the modern Chinese state views its own espionage history.
Oh, the 90th anniversary?
Yes, the 90th anniversary of China's oldest secret service.
Yeah, the parents and children of current active duty secret agents in attendance, the nameless agents of the covert war.
Right.
But the focal point of the entire event was the guest of honor, a man named Yao Zhiyuan.
And he was a former spy, right?
Yeah, a former spy, and he was 102 years old.
I mean, parading a 102-year-old operative in front of the modern intelligence community isn't just a nod to history.
That is a very deliberate signaling of continuity.
Totally.
It is entirely about institutional memory.
Under President Xi Jinping, the intelligence apparatus, you know, specifically the Ministry of State Security, the Guoanbu, and the digital divisions of the Strategic Support Force, they've undergone a massive reorganization.
Oh, absolutely massive.
And the driving force behind that reorganization is what Xi calls the Chinese dream.
Which requires absolute security of the party supremacy domestically and then massive global projection through initiatives like the New Silk Road internationally.
Right.
Xi has centralized his power, styling himself as the supreme leader of the military, and he is utilizing an intelligence machine that has an unbroken century-long operational philosophy.
So to understand the Guoanbu hackers or operatives today, you really do have to understand the ghosts that were hovering in the room at that 2017 ceremony.
Exactly.
Which means we need to rewind 100 years and drop you right into the birthplace of those ghosts, the 1920s.
To a city that was chaotic, deeply corrupt, and known globally as the Paris of the Orient.
To really grasp the scale of what we're talking about today, I think we need to look at how the modern Chinese state views its own espionage history.
Oh, the 90th anniversary?
Yes, the 90th anniversary of China's oldest secret service.
Yeah, the parents and children of current active duty secret agents in attendance, the nameless agents of the covert war.
Right.
But the focal point of the entire event was the guest of honor, a man named Yao Zhiyuan.
And he was a former spy, right?
Yeah, a former spy, and he was 102 years old.
I mean, parading a 102-year-old operative in front of the modern intelligence community isn't just a nod to history.
That is a very deliberate signaling of continuity.
Totally.
It is entirely about institutional memory.
Under President Xi Jinping, the intelligence apparatus, you know, specifically the Ministry of State Security, the Guoanbu, and the digital divisions of the Strategic Support Force, they've undergone a massive reorganization.
Oh, absolutely massive.
And the driving force behind that reorganization is what Xi calls the Chinese dream.
Which requires absolute security of the party supremacy domestically and then massive global projection through initiatives like the New Silk Road internationally.
Right.
Xi has centralized his power, styling himself as the supreme leader of the military, and he is utilizing an intelligence machine that has an unbroken century-long operational philosophy.
So to understand the Guoanbu hackers or operatives today, you really do have to understand the ghosts that were hovering in the room at that 2017 ceremony.
Exactly.
Which means we need to rewind 100 years and drop you right into the birthplace of those ghosts, the 1920s.
To a city that was chaotic, deeply corrupt, and known globally as the Paris of the Orient.
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