With the NSA eavesdropping scandal continuing to unfold and revealing an increasing number of the United States friends have been victimized, the exposure of alleged Special Collection Service units of the US spy network on Chinese soil came as no surprise.

To many Americans, we are at the very best a potential rival, if not an enemy, despite all the official rhetoric about partnership.

According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, SCS cells operate in five Chinese cities -Beijing, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei.