China: China’s Ministry of State Security has revealed a suspected spy for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The individual, a Chinese national employed by a military-industrial organisation, allegedly received monetary incentives and the promise of US immigration in return for sharing sensitive military data.
On 11th August 2023, the Ministry of State Security reported that a 52-year-old individual named Mr. Zeng had been sent to Italy for educational purposes. During his time there, he developed a friendship with a CIA agent working at the US embassy in Rome.
The Ministry also revealed that an embassy official convinced Mr. Zeng to provide “sensitive information on the (Chinese) military” in exchange for “a huge amount of compensation” and help for Mr. Zeng and his family to move to the US. The US Embassy in Beijing hasn’t commented on this yet.
Mr. Zeng was found to have signed an espionage agreement with the US and received training before returning to China to carry out espionage activities, as per the statement.
In recent years, the relationship between the US and China has worsened due to various concerns, including matters related to national security. Washington has accused Beijing of espionage and cyberattacks, but China has denied these accusations.
China unveiled an anti-espionage law last month that bans the transfer of any information related to national security and interests without defining those terms. The US was concerned about the new law, and the European Union ambassador to China expressed uncertainty in May about whether the Chinese economy’s opening up was in line with the counter-espionage law.
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