Endanger

China's intelligence agency recently posted to social media a warning that "foreign spies could be hiding next to you," disguised as scholars, businesspeople, NGO workers, tourists, and lovers.

Endanger

“Scholars who don’t research…tourists who don’t sightsee…lovers who aren’t sincere…additionally, foreign spies might pretend to be journalists, consular officers, NGO workers, etc., using various methods to collect national secrets and endanger our country’s security.”
—Ministry of State Security, May 2025

I wonder who was on the dancefloor that night
the cops swung by, just doing their jobs,
marking two foreign musicians on stage
and summoning them later for questioning.
Were you paid? What kind of visa are you on?
Word spread, the message was received.
Foreign acts were swapped out that weekend
(“Playing it safe”), at least one show
cancelled. We anticipate stuff like this,
a venue owner said,
knowing this time things will be fine and
not knowing when things won’t be.
Anyway, there’s a sensitive anniversary coming up.
But shows must go on, so they did.
The Chinese DJ had them swaying, homeostatic.
The drinks kept them uninhibited.
What was known, what might ever happen?
The venue felt small, people kept looking at the rafters
as if they were being watched—or maybe that’s just
what I thought. Surely this counts as research.
On the dancefloor, how many were journalists
chasing the ineluctable, how many consular officers
who’d run out of weekend getaways? And more dangerous,
how many were tourists, how many seekers of love?