During the war, Fairbank worked for the military intelligence service responsible for researching and analyzing intelligence on China. He later served as a special assistant at the US embassy in Chungking and, after the war, as the director of the American information service in China.
在二次大戰期間，費正清出任戰時情報局官員，負責研究分析中國情報，又先後擔任美國駐重慶大使館特別助理、戰後美國駐華新聞處處長等職位。