China later backed away from the espionage accusations and instead accused the four of engaging in bribery, stealing trade secrets and damaging the interests of China's state-owned steel makers.
"That would have been really dangerous for us," Rose said, relieved that the evidence pointed away from footwear-industry espionage.
After today's outcry has died away, that will remain true.But the promised gains from espionage need to be measured against the costs and likelihood of being caught.
London failed to predict the second world war (who could?) which, of course, steered the course of history away from his vision into a world of espionage, economic warfare and nuclear paranoia.
John O. Brennan, the new C.I.A. director, has been eager to shift the agency more toward espionage, intelligence gathering and analysis and away from the paramilitary mission it has adopted since Sept. 11.
The new CIA director, John Brennan, has indicated he is eager to move his agency away from targeted killings and back to its core responsibilities, spying and espionage.
More broadly, Mr. Brennan — who himself was a senior C.I.A. official when the methods were being used — has indicated that he hopes to gradually refocus the spy agency away from manhunting and paramilitary operations like drone strikes and toward more traditional espionage activities.
Having been pigeonholed in the young espionage genre, it was only a matter of time before Robert Muchamore broke away from the CHERUB series and concentrated on something different: in this case, the music industry.
" 'The Bolshoi is turning away from our traditions.' In our mentality, turning away from the Bolshoi's tradition is like betraying your homeland: simultaneously treachery and espionage".
While not shying away from comic conventions such as time travel, Brubaker's Captain America was a soldier, and his adventures were noir-influenced tales of intrigue and espionage.
