This essential primary-source reader brings together documents collected over decades of research into security agency tradecraft and Chinese Cold War-era human intelligence. Michael Schoenhals' expert translation of the texts teases out meanings from memoranda, decodes marginal notes from senior officers, and unpacks the hastily scribbled communications of covert human sources. Together, these sources trace the resilience of covert human intelligence as an institution, even when faced with revelations of major misconduct and calls for its reform. With editorial introductions providing valuable context, this collection offers an informed interpretation of the domestic recruitment and running of agents that sheds critical new light on Chinese security agencies' intelligence gathering operations and capacity building during the Cold War.

‘This is a unique collection of first-hand documents from the clandestine inner workings of the Chinese secret police and their network of informers. Skilfully introduced, Michael Schoenhals takes us into the abysses and banalities of communist persecution under Mao. The underbelly of Stalinist civilisation – Chinese style. Anyone interested in secret police and their informers will find a wealth of comparative material in this collection.'

Jens Gieseke - Leibniz-Centre for Contemporary History

‘Eyes and Ears draws on discarded documents to describe how the state recruited people to spy on their neighbors in Cold War China. Everyday surveillance is by turns humdrum, tedious, chilling, and occasionally hilarious. Schoenhals illuminates China's particularities without ever letting us forget that these practices are common to all modern states.'

Gail Hershatter - University of California, Santa Cruz

‘This volume makes an indispensable contribution to a much neglected area of study. No serious student of Cold War China can afford to overlook it.'

R. Gerald Hughes - Aberystwyth University