China detains a army group employee suspected of spying for the CIA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China has detained a employee from a army industrial group on suspicion of spying for the CIA, nationwide safety authorities stated Friday, including to the listing of public accusations of espionage between Beijing and Washington.

The Ministry of State Security, the nation’s civilian spy company, stated in a press release {that a} army industrial employee surnamed Zeng had been offering army secrets and techniques to the CIA in change for giant sums of cash.

The 52-year-old suspect had been despatched to Italy to check by his employer. There, he met “an official with the U.S. embassy,” who later turned out to be a CIA agent, the ministry claimed.

“Zeng gradually developed a psychological dependence on (the U.S. official), who took the opportunity to indoctrinate him with Western values,” the assertion, posted on the ministry’s WeChat web page, learn.

It added that the U.S. official promised the Chinese suspect giant quantities of cash and to assist his household to migrate to the United States in change for delicate details about China’s army, which the employee had entry to by his job.

“Having finished overseas study, Zeng returned to China and continued to have multiple secret meetings with the CIA agents and provided a great amount of key intelligence and collected funds for spying,” the ministry stated.

It added that the suspect had been detained and the case was being additional investigated.

The announcement is the most recent in a string of public accusations of espionage between Washington and Beijing.

Last week, the U.S. arrested two U.S. Navy sailors on accusations of offering army secrets and techniques to China.

Relations between China and the U.S. plunged to their lowest degree in years after the U.S. earlier this yr shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had flown over U.S. territory.