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US-China relations
ChinaPolitics

China points to CIA again in second case of alleged spy recruitment

  • Both cases announced this month involve allegations of Chinese students overseas recruited by American agency before returning to work for China
  • US embassy worker ‘established a close relationship with Hao through dinners, gifts, etc, and asked Hao to help write papers, promising to pay a fee’

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On Monday, the Ministry of State Security said an accused official named Hao who worked at an unnamed ministry met CIA personnel in China to provide information and receive payment for espionage. Photo: Reuters
Yuanyue Dangin Beijing
China’s top anti-espionage agency, the Ministry of State Security, announced on Monday it arrested an official it says is a spy for the CIA.

It said a 39-year-old official surnamed Hao had been recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency to become an American spy while studying in Japan. But it did not identify Hao’s sex or what ministry Hao worked for.

It is rare for China to publicly name other organisations or nations, but this is the second case of alleged espionage this month in which the ministry has directly pointed to the CIA.

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On August 10, the ministry said it had arrested a 52-year-old employee of a state-run arms company who had begun working for the CIA while studying in Italy.

Both cases were published on the ministry’s new WeChat account as China and the US strengthen their respective counterintelligence efforts.

In the most recent statement, the ministry said that while applying for a US visa as a student in Japan, Hao met Taide – the Chinese translation of Ted – an official at the US embassy in Japan.

“Ted gradually established a close relationship with Hao through dinners, gifts, etc, and asked Hao to help write papers, promising to pay a fee,” the announcement said.

At the end of his tenure, Ted introduced his colleague Li Jun to Hao. Hao and Li Jun continued to work together, the ministry added.

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