Cold War era During the
Cold War, China watchers centered in
Hong Kong and many of them simultaneously worked for Western
intelligence agencies, universities, and news organizations. Much of their reporting would be previewed by the British colonial government's
secretariat, to prepare for diplomatic consequences. Of the various nationalities of China watcher, the Americans were the most prolific, due to the activity of the
Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong and Macau. Mutual distrust between the United States and China and the prohibition of travel between the countries meant that American China watchers did not have access to press briefings or interviews. Therefore, China watchers adopted techniques from
Kremlinology, such as the close parsing of official announcements for hidden meanings, movements of officials reported in newspapers, and analysis of photographs of public appearances. China watchers would also interview refugees from mainland China, or reprint analysis from Taiwan or the Soviet Union. Prominent China watchers in Hong Kong in the first decades after the
Chinese Communist Revolution included
László Ladány and
Pierre Ryckmans. Publications by the Consulate-General, which were frequently cited by China-watchers (some of whom did not speak Chinese) included
Survey of the China Mainland Press,
Current Background, and
Selections from Mainland China Magazines. These publications emphasized problems and contradictions in national policy, violence, and atrocity, ignoring topics like education or culture unless there was an associated controversy. In the years since the
reform and opening up, China watchers can live in China and take advantage of normal sources of information. Others remained in Hong Kong, however. The Hong Kong journalist
Willy Wo-Lap Lam has been called the "quintessential China watcher, practiced in the art of Pekingology," whose "scope is wide, but the focus of his analysis is the
Zhongnanhai and factional manoeuvring among the political elite."
Post-Cold War era Since the collapse of the
Soviet Union, China became seen as a major United States antagonist, which has caused more interest in China from strategists, including China watchers, rather than just sinologists. Sinologists have since lost ground in shaping the US policy on China, and have claimed that strategists "don't understand China". According to Washington officials, there is "a desire for a new cold war", and
The Economist wrote "expertise about China is not necessary" for China watchers, while doveish China experts lost their advisory role to the
White House. == Criticism ==