Beijing’s top spy agency is flexing its muscles on a new court case. It’s accusing a Chinese citizen of handing over secrets to the United States and says his case is being sent to trial in the southwest city of Chengdu.
According to Chinese state media mouthpiece CCTV, the man worked for a defense institute in China.
He was reportedly sent to an American university as a visiting academic in 2013. That’s when Beijing says he began revealing Chinese state secrets to a U.S. “intelligence officer.”
He was arrested in 2021.
That comes after Beijing shared information about another case. Where China sentenced a U.S. citizen to life in prison earlier this year for what it called spying.
“This is their version of gearing up for either response or retaliation to all the accusations of Chinese espionage globally because it actually has become an issue,” Nicholas Eftimiades, Ret. Senior Intel. Officer, said.
But that’s not all for Chinese authorities. They’ve also detained three more people on suspicion of bribery.
One of them is a senior executive at media agency Group-M—owned by British communications company WPP. The other two are former staff members of the company.
The Chinese leader has pushed to boost foreign investment in China as its economy struggles, but foreign businesses have become more weary of operating inside China.
Chinese police have raided the offices of several foreign consultancies and due diligence groups this year including Bain and Company, Mintz, and Capvision.