As many as 30 Chinese academics and policy experts have had their U.S. visas canceled or reviewed in the past year, the New York Times reported recently. The use of overseas Chinese student associations to engage in influence operations (principally targeting Chinese students themselves) is well-documented. Next to such hauls, the sort of HUMINT to which a Chinese social sciences professor would be privy seems almost quaint.There’s an even more important point, though. Foreign spies aren’t always an unalloyed threat to a country’s national security. Stalin dismissed numerous warnings of the coming blitzkrieg, possibly on the basis of personal assurances from Hitler.

Source: Economic Times April 21, 2019 08:03 UTC