China suspects a government official of spying on behalf of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to an official statement released Monday, following a first similar case in early August.
The Asian giant introduced a new anti-espionage law last month. It gives the authorities significantly more leeway against what they see as a threat to national security.
The case announced Monday, which is still under investigation, involves a 39-year-old man, China’s Ministry of State Security said in a statement.
He is an employee of an unspecified ministry and his last name is Hao, he said. Her gender was not specified.
While studying in Japan, the individual reportedly met a US embassy employee and, according to the Ministry of State Security, developed “a close relationship” with him.
The embassy staffer later reportedly introduced Hao to another colleague, a CIA agent, who, upon his return to China, convinced him to spy for the American agency.
Hao reportedly signed a contract and received an education in the United States before receiving a job with the Chinese government under American directions.
The suspect allegedly “made several secret contacts with CIA operatives in China and provided them with information,” the statement said.
In August, the Ministry of State Security released details of a first case in which a Chinese national named Zeng, 52, was accused of spying for the United States.
The statement said that this individual was in Italy for study purposes and had become friends with a CIA agent based in Rome.
This agent convinced Zeng to provide “sensitive information about the Chinese military” in exchange for “great compensation” and help to allow Zeng and his family to settle in the United States, the ministry said. state security.
Beijing’s recent overhaul of its anti-espionage law worries many US companies doing business in China amid tensions between the two countries.
Under the new law, unauthorized acquisition of “documents, data, materials and items related to security and national interests” can now amount to espionage.