Spy museum for Chinese citizens ‘ONLY’
Posted: Friday, September 04, 2009 3:08 PM
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Beijing, China
By NBC News' Bo Gu
NANJING, China – In the middle of Yuhuatai Martyr Memorial Park in Nanjing, southeast China’s ancient capital, is a small building called the "Jiangsu National State Security Education Museum."
The sign in front of the gate is likely to trigger the curiosity of any passerby – but especially foreigners. It warns would-be visitors: "This exhibition service is available to Chinese citizens ONLY."
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| Bo Gu/ NBC News |
| The entrance to China's spy museum warns that "This exhibition service is available ONLY to PRC citizens." |
As a Chinese citizen, I was permitted to enter, so I did.
The museum’s exhibition halls display the history of China’s security techniques and spy equipment dating back to the 1920s, when China’s Communist Party came into being and began its battle against the Chinese National Party led by Chiang Kai-shek.
One of the largest exhibits focuses on the decades-long spy war between mainland China and Taiwan – both before and after Chiang Kai-shek lost the battle for China and fled to the island with his followers in 1949.
The exhibition rooms are full of large photos of Communist Party spies who successful concealed themselves as Nationalist Party members and infiltrated their ranks. One of the most prominent photos was of Shen Anna, a Communist spy who managed to disguise herself as a stenographer and sat in on many of the Nationalist’s high-level meetings.
The museum features a large display of Cold War era spy tools that are reminiscent of early James Bond movies. The exhibit includes tiny pistols disguised as lipsticks, a calculator with a radio microphone hidden inside and a camera sewn inside a suit pocket so it could secretly take pictures of important documents.
Message: protect the motherland
Stories of foreign espionage activities are also an essential part of the museum – and serve as cautionary tales.
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| Bo Gu / NBC News |
| An exhibit of spy "tools" in China's Jiangsu National State Security Education Museum. |
For instance, one exhibit tells the tale of Japanese military attaché Hiromasa Amano and Lt. Col. Bradley Gerdes, an assistant air force attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, who are said to have stealthily entered a forbidden Chinese military zone without authorization and were caught taking photos in 1996. Gerdes was subsequently ordered to leave the country by the Chinese.
"Espionage is all pervasive and we should keep our eyes wide open," the museum notes say in conclusion to the story.
The last part of the exhibit highlights what are said to be China’s "contemporary enemies" who try to "infiltrate" the motherland.
The rogues’ gallery includes photos of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader; Li Hongzhi, the leader of Falun Gong, which China considers to be a "cult religion"; and some Uighur separatist leaders from China’s restive Xinjiang province.
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| Bo Gu / NBC News |
| A poster of Shen Anna, a Communist Party spy. |
I was stopped by one of the many uniformed staff in the museum when I tried to take a picture of the photo of the Dalai Lama. "You are not allowed to take any photos here," he said with a stiff gesture. "There are cameras everywhere and you’ll be seen by our people."
In fact, a tiny room showing the power of high-tech cameras proved that he wasn’t exaggerating. I walked into the room and immediately found dozens of cameras with red lights that demonstrate to visitors that their moves can be monitored every second. A screen in the middle of the room showed my image: front, back, head, feet – and the images were in such high resolution that I could even read the label on my backpack.
However, despite all the intrigue, I was never asked to show my ID when I entered the museum. And many of the stories and pictures displayed in the museum can be found easily on Internet. Perhaps the "Chinese ONLY" sign is meant to make visitors feel mysterious, serious and more patriotic.
If that’s the goal, the technique just might be working. At the exit of the museum, there is a big notebook where visitors can leave comments after taking the tour.
One student from Beijing wrote: "I can only become a useful person to my motherland through studious work at school and we shall always keep ourselves vigilant of any suspicious activities."
