The state security ministry announced on Monday that China is looking into a Chinese national who is allegedly spying for the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The alleged CIA was recruited in Japan, where the 39-year-old Chinese national with the last name Hao was a cadre at a ministry, according to a statement from the government of China. The gender of Hao was kept a secret.
The ministry announced earlier this month that it had found a citizen of China believed to be a CIA spy who had been recruited in Italy.
The CIA stated that it has nothing further to add.
The government claimed that while processing a visa application, Hao got to know Ted, a representative of the U.S. Embassy. The ministry claimed that he invited Hao to dinners, gave her gifts, and asked her for assistance in drafting a paper that Ted had agreed to pay for.
Before his tenure at the Japanese embassy came to an end, Ted introduced Hao to a coworker by the name of Li Jun, the ministry claimed. After that, Li and Hao continued their “cooperative relationship”.
Li claimed they were Tokyo-based CIA agents and “instigated Hao into rebelling,” ordering Hao to go back to China and work for a “core and critical unit,” before Hao had finished his studies.
According to the statement, Hao signed an espionage agreement accepting evaluation and training from the US.
The ministry claimed that after his return, Hao worked in a national department “in accordance with the requirements of the CIA” and gave the agency intelligence while being paid by the United States.
National security is only one of the many concerns that have strained ties between the US and China in recent years. Beijing has been charged with espionage and cyberattacks by Washington, which China has denied. China has also claimed that spies are a threat to its security.
Following the expansion of its anti-spying law in July, which alarmed the United States, China this month urged its citizens to take part in counter-espionage activities.
