Espionage and Counterespionage…
The history of espionage and counterespionage is nearly as long as history itself.
Information regarding the condition of an enemy’s strength is vital to the survival of a nation.
It is also vital to the survival of a business!
Because the investment of time and money in R&D is very high, Asian business often prefer to obtain technical and technological information through covert means, rather than develop their own.
This is often accomplished by purchasing a piece of equipment and disassembling it to analysing the components. Asians may also request training to accompany the new equipment.
Seemingly harmless questions may be asked to obtain details of a missing piece of a puzzle from unwary engineers.
For example after the introduction of the IBM personal computer, IBM contracted with some Taiwanese manufacture’s to produce different components for the products. Shortly thereafter Taiwan became the world leader in the manufacture of IBM PC compatibles.
The Japanese would like the world to view their country as an innovator rather than a copycat. However it’s still widely accepted that Japan achieved its economic success by adopting technology developed in the West.
The Japanese know the value of their information and how easily it can be passed on.
They also know the value of withholding information especially to the Chinese who never stop asking!
After W.W. II when Japan was trying to develop its industries the Americans became victims of industrial espionage by the Japanese.
American executives failed to realise the seriousness of their losses as their engineers continued to show off how much they knew!
Asians know the value of another’s knowledge. It is not that they do not recognise the intellectual rights of others they simply choose to ignore them!
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