Beware of Female Spies

I decided to bring you a little Friday night clipping from the archives where, as always, I have my eye open for treason and treachery:

In the Chinese national government archival collection at Taiwan’s Academia Historica there is a small file from the military affairs committee1 dated April, 1938 and entitled:

Take Strict Precautions Against the Enemy’s Female Traitors
嚴防敵人女漢奸

The concise attached brief2 says that, “According to reports, [Japan’s] special services last month began to dispatch [Chinese] trained female traitors to Hankou, Chongqing, Changsha and other cities” who are to conduct intelligence operations against nationalist forces. It recommends a close investigation and special vigilance against these traitors.3


  1. 軍事委員會, is there a better standard translation for this?  

  2. in the form of a 代電 report, then largely repeated in an directive 訓令  

  3. This very short file can be found in 國史館 國民政府檔案 001000005615A (001-071040-0001) 敵情動態, 31-36 (1026-1031).  

2 Comments

  1. I usually translate 委員會 as “commission” when it is referring to something more or less permanent and separate from other organizations.

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