The year I left Beijing, 2017, was the year China passed a National Intelligence Law requiring every citizen and organization at every level to assist with state intelligence work. In the years that followed, China's all-encompassing approach to intelligence and influence operations was becoming more evident not only in China, but also in the rest of the world. I witnessed that change during five years working for thinktanks in Germany and co-wrote a book about aspects of the phenomenon before becoming a Newsweek journalist. A desire to shed light on something that was happening around the world but usually going...