From Financial Express:
The latest recruitment brochure from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which beckons the uninitiated to “be a part of a mission that’s larger than all of us”, opens to reveal an image of the red-roofed entrance to Beijing’s Forbidden City. From an oversized portrait on the ancient wall, chairman Mao Zedong and his Mona Lisa smile behold the vast granite expanse of Tiananmen Square.
The Cold War is over, and the Soviet Union is gone. The cloak-and-dagger games of Berlin and Prague have been replaced by business and tourism. But China – land of ancient secrets, autocratic leaders, and memories of suppressed uprisings – still holds out the promise of world-historical struggle that can help the CIA meet its recruitment goals.
It’s not difficult to understand the CIA’s interest in China. The picture of Tiananmen Square and the walled-off Forbidden City sums it up: size and mystery and potential threat. It’s an irresistible combination for clandestine operations. The big mystery of China has also transfixed pretty much everyone else around the world, from chief executive officers and filmmakers to language students and ambitious politicians. [Full Text]
