Book contents
- Eyes and Ears
- Eyes and Ears
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Part IAgent Recruitment
- Part IICapacity Building
- Introduction
- 2A Director of Public Security Remembers
- 3Developing Doctrinal Terminology
- 4Trial and Error
- 5Big Brother Dispenses Operativnyy Experience
- Part IIIBest Practice
- Part IVFrom the Agent Work File
- Part VFrom the Agent Personal File
- Part VIComponent Chiefs: Feedback and Direction
- Part VIICrisis Management
- Glossary
- Notes
- Index
4 - Trial and Error
from Part II - Capacity Building
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2026
Book contents
- Eyes and Ears
- Eyes and Ears
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Part IAgent Recruitment
- Part IICapacity Building
- Introduction
- 2A Director of Public Security Remembers
- 3Developing Doctrinal Terminology
- 4Trial and Error
- 5Big Brother Dispenses Operativnyy Experience
- Part IIIBest Practice
- Part IVFrom the Agent Work File
- Part VFrom the Agent Personal File
- Part VIComponent Chiefs: Feedback and Direction
- Part VIICrisis Management
- Glossary
- Notes
- Index
Summary
How should we proceed in merging what [in Shenyang’s economic protection sector] are currently agents, informants, and confidential guardians and in designating all of them agents?
The creation of a single uniform designation calls for identifying the specific utility of each agent, carrying out individual validations, and deciding on the level at which the agent is to be run. (Note: below, informants and confidential guardians are all referred to as agents.) Agents about whom we already have a pretty good idea are to be examined in detail; agents about whom we still really do not have a good idea must be scrutinised in depth and exhaustively, and their recent records as well as their documented pasts must be appraised repeatedly. In the end, we must produce conclusive validation reviews to determine our decisions about whether to retain or to terminate.
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- Eyes and EarsSecret Agent Work in Cold War China, pp. 34 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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