Watched in America: Chinese Espionage and the Taiwanese Diaspora
How Beijing's Intelligence Machine Reaches Across the Pacific

About this book:

For decades, a silent war has been waged on American soil—not with bombs, but with informants, cyber-intrusions, and the quiet coercion of neighbors, colleagues, and students. *Watched in America* pulls back the curtain on the Ministry of State Security’s vast, evolving campaign to monitor, manipulate, and silence the Taiwanese diaspora. From the ideological dragnets of the Cold War and the KMT’s own "White Terror" on U.S. soil to the algorithmic precision of today’s AI-driven surveillance, this book exposes how Beijing transformed a vulnerable immigrant community into the front line of its global intelligence apparatus.

Drawing on deep historical research and harrowing personal testimony, the narrative traces the spycraft hidden inside cultural associations, university labs, and family WeChat groups. You will witness the recruitment of scientists and the targeting of dissidents, the theft of semiconductor secrets, and the insidious "United Front" operations that blur the line between community outreach and state control. It is a story of shifting identities and impossible loyalties, where a student’s thesis, a business deal, or a visit to aging parents becomes actionable intelligence for a foreign power.

As cross-strait tensions explode into a new era of great-power competition, *Watched in America* delivers the urgent context missing from today’s headlines. It reveals not just how the machinery of repression reaches across the Pacific, but how a resilient community is fighting back—armed with lawsuits, legislation, and the refusal to be invisible. Essential reading for anyone concerned with national security, human rights, and the true cost of the intelligence war already inside the gates.