ABSTRACT
In China, however, the influence and tradition of secret and communal societies, which had existed since ancient times, developed an even more important role in the formation of contemporary China as a nation-state. The efficiency of Dai Li’s assassinations and psychological warfare was such that Japanese authorities believed all anti-Japanese activity in north China and Manchukuo took place under Dai Li’s orders. The importance of those societies in China was not ignored, even by the Japanese occupation army. The CPC in China cynically dismissed the use of such forces after using them against Japanese invaders. In the western scenario—with Soviet military operations and the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979—there were concerns about Soviet activity near Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province in the border area with China and Pakistan. With the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989 and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union, Deng achieved a major external victory without direct confrontation.
