Airstrip One

Spy Club

The Chinese authorities have arrested an official in Hong Kong on the grounds that he is a British spy. The accused, Cai Xiaohong, was secretary-general of the Liaison Office of the Central Government in Hong Kong, and belonged to the nepotistic elite known as the "princelings" that currently rules China. Unlike Soviet Russia, China is rapidly industrialising and advancing in material wealth, so spies are often motivated by cash.

Xiaohong was arrested last summer but his details have only come to light now. They have been released at the same time and overshadowed by the parading of Taiwanese accused of being spies before the cameras. Whilst the latter was designed to influence the internal politics of the future Republic of Taiwan, Xiaohong's fate was downplayed in order to avoid disrupting China's "cosy" relationship with Britain.

No doubt, Chinese communists have infiltrated Britain under the guise of illegal immigration. China has become "the main country of destination in Europe for Chinese asylum seekers, overtaking France." However, the attractions of a capitalist economy will eventually undermine any allegiance to the PRC, unless they have imbibed the nationalism that is detaching itself from its ideological parent, Maoism.

However, David Yip in the Chinese Detective and his popularisation of three wheelers suggests a happier future for the Chinese in the UK.

(10.37, 17th January 2003)