He lived in China until he was 12, personally witnessing Japan's full-scale invasion of that country. As an adult, he went into intelligence work, and was posted to Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Laos, and China, specializing in collecting China-related information.
李潔明十二歲以前的幼年歲月都是在中國度過，目睹了日本侵華戰爭的爆發；成年後，他更以情報員的身分派駐日本、香港、菲律賓、寮國、中國等地，從事中國情報的蒐集。