Shortly after the United States and Russia swapped the spies, it seems that the two governments' low profile action takes effect.

A prickly situation [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

At first glance, it appears that Russia was most successful in the swap, because Russia got 10 spies while the U.S. only got four. Closer inspection reveals that the U.S. benefits more from the quality of the four spies, and even Russians admit that the U.S. got four "capable" Russians at the only expense of its own ten "sleeper" agents.

As the American press put it, among the four spies deported to America, three are former Russian military or intelligence staff, and the other is an arms control expert. The spies sent from the U.S. to Russia are amateurs who were not able to obtain valuable information.

According to American intelligence experts, although the 10 spies once engaged in organized espionage, they have been control by the American side. The US press has sneered at the so-called "intelligence" they gathered, saying what they obtained was open information that can be easily accessed through American newspapers and think tank websites.

In fact, the real winner in the event was the US press.