The cumulative decisions -- largely the work of Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, although they certainly had tons of help from many other people in both parties -- to let Mainland China into the UN, and to give it full diplomatic recognition, made it possible for that country to send literally thousands of spies into America under the guise of "diplomats", "athletes", "tourists", "students", "guest workers", "cultural attaches", etc., over the past 32 years or so.

This consequence was not a "surprise," either; it was specifically predicted and warned-against by many prominent Americans in the 1960s and 1970s.

Oh, well.