Telling Americans About China (and Intelligence) – with Sara Castro

Summary

Dr. Sara Castro (LinkedIn, Bio) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the history of US-China diplomacy. Sara is an Associate Professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The Dixie Mission 
• The history of US-China relations dating back to the Opium Wars
• China’s involvement with the OSS during WWII
• How Mao Zedong & Chiang Kai-shek built modern China

Reflections

• Understanding and empathy
• Knowledge is power 

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

This week on SpyCast, Andrew was joined by Sara Castro, President of the Society for Intelligence History, professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy, and former intelligence analyst at the CIA. After taking the dare to study Chinese language in college, Sara developed a deep interest in understanding Chinese culture and history – An interest that would shape the trajectory of her career. Her new book, Mission to Mao: US Intelligence in China during World War II is available for pre-order now. 

In this episode, Sara and Andrew dig into the lesser-known history of the US-China collaboration during WWII, including an exploration of the fascinating Dixie Mission that occurred between 1944 and 1947. With an eye on current relations, this episode reminds us just how critical the study of history is to understand the present. 

And… 

The United States Air Force Academy has produced many notable graduates, ranging from Olympic gold-medalists to the first African American to command a space vehicle. One graduate was even the subject of a popular 2016 movie with Tom Hanks playing the title role – Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, Class of 1973, the pilot who successfully landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River without a single casualty. 

Quotes of the Week

“One of the things that has been so appealing about teaching is that there is room there for people to be ready to change their minds. And so, the thread for me has been, content on China … telling Americans about China. That is the thread of my career – Explaining this place and explaining this culture and civilization to students and getting them to see, ‘Oh, it's not what I thought it was.’” – Sara Castro.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*Spotlight Resource*

• Mission to Mao: US Intelligence in China during World War II, Sara B. Castro, (Georgetown University Press, 2024) 

*SpyCasts*

• Making Sense of China, Taiwan, & America Pacific Intelligence with Bonny Lin (2023)
• China’s Corporate Spy War with CNBC’s Eamon Javers (2023)
• Trafficking Data: The Digital Struggle with China with Aynne Kokas (2022)

*Beginner Resources*

• Beyond the Balloon: The Complicated History Behind US-China Relations, Voice of America, YouTube (2023) [8 min. video]
• China’s Overlooked Role in World War II, C. Klein, The History Channel (2022) [Short article]
• Secret Agents, Secret Armies: The Short Happy Life of the OSS, The National World War II Museum (2020) [Short article]

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World, A. Joske (Hardie Grant, 2022) 
• The Hundred-Year Marathon: China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower, M. Pillsbury (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016) 
• Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937–1945, R. Mitter (Mariner Books, 2013)

Articles

• Is the US-China relationship the most consequential relationship for America in the world? G. T. Allison et al., Brookings Institution (2024)
• U.S.-China Relations in 2024: Managing Competition without Conflict, B. Smialowski, Center for Strategic and International Studies (2024) 
• Taiwan publishes Chiang Kai-shek's diaries for 'social reconciliation and progress,' A. R. Connolly, United Press International (2023)
• The Dixie Mission, Patrick J. Hurley, and America's Diplomatic Failure in China, S. Moody, University of Washington Tacoma (2022) 
• Dixie Mission II: The Legality of a Proposed U.S. Military Observer Group to Taiwan, M. C.M. Louis, Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journal (2020)
• The Dixie Mission 1944: The First US Intelligence Encounter with the Chinese Communists, B. Bergin, Studies in Intelligence (2019)

Video

• 100 Years Of Chinese Communist Party: Its Mark On Modern China, CNA Insider, YouTube (2021) 

Primary Sources 

• Dixie Mission Remembered in Beijing (2004)
• U.S.-PRC Political Negotiations, 1967-1984 (1985)
• CIA Intelligence Report: Mao’s “Cultural Revolution” (1967)
• War Report: Office of Strategic Services: Operations in the Field (1949) 
• Madame Chiang Kai-Shek Address to the U.S. House of Representatives (1943)
• Treaty Of Tianjin (1858)
• Treaty Of Wangxia (1844) 

*Wildcard Resource*

• After the signing of the SACO Treaty in 1942, Chinese spymaster Dai Li took command of the US-China intelligence cooperation during World War II. 
• Six decades later in 2005, Nickelodeon premiered the now immensely popular American anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the series, the elite secret police agency of fictional capital city Ba Sing Se are appropriately named, The Dai Li.