Amleto Vespa was an Italian secret agent in Manchuria between 1922 and 1940. Spy and secret agent redirect here; for alternate use, see Spy (disambiguation) and Secret agent (disambiguation). ... Extent according to Definition 1 (dark red), Definition 3 (dark red + medium red) and Definition 4 (dark red + medium red + light red) Northeast China (Simplified Chinese: 东北; Traditional Chinese: 東北; pinyin: ; literally east-north) and Manchuria (Manchu: Manju, Simplified Chinese: 满洲; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲; pinyin: ) are names of a vast region in Northeast Asia. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Biography

Vespa left a small town and a poor family in the Italian countryside to fight the Mexican civil war. He subsequently travelled through Eastern Europe in an era when few did so, marrying a Polish Countess and taking her along to Asia. He worked for the Warlord Zhang Zuolin for a number of years. When the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931, he was forced to work for the Japanese. Amleto left Harbin, China just ahead of the Japanese Police. His family were captured and treated horribly, although they were eventually freed. Eastern Europe is, by convention, that part of Europe from the Ural and Caucasus mountains in the east to an arbitrarily chosen boundary in the west. ... This page is about the European nobility; for the baseball term, see count (baseball). ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ... Harbin on Chinas map Harbin (Simplified Chinese: 哈尔滨; Traditional Chinese: 哈爾濱; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ha-erh-pin; Russian Харби́н Kharbin) is a sub-provincial city in north-east China and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province. ...

Secret Agent of Japan

He published his account of life in Manchukuo following the Japanese occupation in a book in 1938 - Secret Agent of Japan: A Handbook to Japanese Imperialism. This was published by the Left Book Club. According to Vespa, he began to meet with the chief of the Japanese secret service in Manchukuo, a Japanese Prince whose name was unknown to him. According to conversations with his Japanese superiors, Vespa reports that the Japanese intended the colonisation of Manchukuo to be financially self-supporting. Vespa was instructed to compile reports on wealthy members of Harbin's Jewish community and other foreign and Chinese residents. He was also instructed to recuit bandit forces to sabotage the China Far East Railway, which was run by the Soviet government. He was also ordered to recruit White Russians, Chinese and Manchus to carry out similar acts. It has been suggested that Manchukuo (administration) be merged into this article or section. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Left Book Club, founded in 1936, was a key left-wing institution of the late 1930s and 1940s in the United Kingdom. ... It has been suggested that Manchukuo (administration) be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Manchukuo (administration) be merged into this article or section. ... The China Far East Railway (a. ... The term White Russian may refer to: A member of the White movement, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. ...

In Harbin, for example, where Vespa lived, he claimed that the Japanese Kempeitai, with local organised criminals, ran five drug centers, a secret casino and a "store" of narcotics. In the city were 172 brothels, 56 drug centers and 194 "stores" of narcotics. This occurred elsewhere, also, in other important cities under Japanese rule. He described how from 1932 the poppy farming increased its acreage, and during 1937, opium envoys to China delivered, under cover as military materiel, for the Japanese Army. In localities having no Japanese military detachment, shipments were to Japanese consulates. Japanese Navy War vessels transported drugs to Chinese coasts and japanese patrol boats did the same for the principal rivers. Vespa supposed that these envoys were meant to demoralize enemy troops and reduce their combat effectivessnes. Harbin on Chinas map Harbin (Simplified Chinese: 哈尔滨; Traditional Chinese: 哈爾濱; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ha-erh-pin; Russian Харби́н Kharbin) is a sub-provincial city in north-east China and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province. ... Kempeitai (憲兵隊, Law Soldier Regiment) was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army. ... Opium is a narcotic drug which is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy . ...

Vespa also reported the many monopolies awarded to Japanese and Japanese-Korean firms. These monopolies included chimney sweeping monopolies and suppliers of Manchukuo flags, which were attempts to extort money from the local population. It has been suggested that Manchukuo (administration) be merged into this article or section. ...

The Kaspe Affair

His book also gives details of the Simeon Kaspe kidnapping case. Joseph Kaspe was a prominent Jewish businessman who owned the "Moderne Hotel", the principal hotel in Harbin. His son Simeon, a pianist in Paris and a French citizen was kidnapped while visiting Harbin on 23 August,1933. Those directly responsible were said to be a White Russian gang acting on the instructions of the Japanese authorities. When foreign diplomatic pressure obliged the Japanese Authorities to arrest the real kidnappers, the gang executed Simeon Kaspe. Vespa relates the discovery of the mutilated corspe of Simeon Kaspe in November 1933, just outside Harbin. Vespa recorded a number of other similar cases and gave a long list of foreign and local Jews, Chinese, Manchus, White Russian and other nationalities who also suffered under the Japanese occupationy. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ...

The Lytton Commission

Vespa reported that Japanese secret agents were instructed to prevent complaints and petitions from the population from reaching the members of the Commission during their visit. However, despite their best efforts, the Commission nevertheless were able to interview many individuals secretly, and receive many more written submissions, which almost unanimously protested against the Japanese authorities.