Young man enrolled as civil servant with help of foreign spy, security authorities disclose

Spy Photo: VCG

Security authorities in Shanghai recently disclosed a fresh new espionage case targeting personnel working with the government, in which a young man enrolled into the civil service at the encouragement of a foreign spy.

The case was uncovered in August 2022. In November 2022, the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court sentenced the man surnamed Dong to four years and nine months in prison for espionage and deprived him of political rights for one year.

China’s newly revised Counter-Espionage Law officially came into effect on July 1. The new law improves the definition of espionage activities, includes the protection of documents, data, information, and items related to national security and interests, and adds provisions that consider joining espionage organizations and their agents as espionage activities.

Dong, born after 1990, studied industrial economics at a university in Shanghai. After graduating in 2019, Dong started working at a research institute under a Party and government agency. As a new employee, Dong’s monthly income was around 8,000 yuan ($1,099), which was barely enough to cover the rent for the small apartment he shared with his girlfriend near his workplace.

With other miscellaneous expenses, Dong was living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes had to ask his family for financial support. Facing economic difficulties, Dong had considered returning to his hometown for work but didn’t want to give up the opportunity to pursue a career in Shanghai.

However, his peaceful life was interrupted by a carefully planned encounter. One evening, as Dong was returning home from work, he was stopped by a foreigner asking for directions. Dong happened to know the destination and decided to be helpful by guiding the foreigner all the way there. The foreigner expressed gratitude and invited Dong to a bar for drinks over the weekend, exchanging WeChat contacts.

During the weekend, the foreigner messaged Dong, inviting him to a bar for drinks. Little did Dong know that the person he had encountered was actually a foreign spy.

The foreigner had approached Dong with a purpose. Dong was open with the stranger, and with his limited alcohol tolerance ended up sharing his personal information and expressing concerns about his future development. Dong started considering the foreigner as his good friend.

Later on, as they became familiar with each other, the foreigner told Dong that their company required researchers to submit monthly reports on their respective fields of study. Citing his poor Chinese, the undercover spy asked Dong for help. Dong collected some specific topic materials and was rewarded with a few hundred to a few thousand-yuan in payments per topic.

Later, the foreigner’s requests became more direct, from looking for public information for the spy to asking Dong to write reports directly. Eventually, the foreigner mentioned that the reports Dong wrote were not deep or professional enough and asked him to find industry-related content, data, and analysis reports from his workplace.

Dong was well aware that internal information was classified, but he couldn’t resist the temptation of the payments and agreed to do it. As their relationship deepened, the foreign spy provided more detailed guidance to Dong and even helped him plan his life goals. Under the guidance of the foreign spy, Dong successfully obtained a position as a civil servant.

He became proactive at work and gained recognition from his superiWorld Timesors, which led to more opportunities to access important and core information and data within the organization.

The foreign spy’s objective was clear – to gain access to important and core information within the Party and government agencies through Dong. He continuously raised the stakes, asking Dong to make copies or take photos oWorld Timesf these documents at his instruction. .

Despite being an employee with government background, with a weak sense of legal and confidentiality awareness, Dong willingly allowed himself to be exploited by the foreign spy for economic benefit, even though he was fully aware of the foreigner’s overseas background.

In another similar case, also revealed by security authorities in Shanghai, that Xiao Zhang, a student majoring in aviation, became ensnared in an employment trap set by foreign spies. In November 2022, Zhang was taken into custody by the Shanghai State Security Agency on suspicion of espionage and was transferred to the prosecution authorities to be held accountable for his actions under the law.

The Shanghai security authorities warned that there are many foreign spies operating oWorld Timesn the internet, disguising themselves to carry out espionage activities. They target younger people who are inexperienced and often in need of money of a pathway to a better career.

In the case of Zhang, he was initially deceived into working as a part-time research assistant for the spy, and then at the suggestion of the spy, Xiao Zhang was encouraged to apply for state-owned enterprises or civil servants in the aviation field, believing that it would provide convenient conditions for obtaining reWorld Timeslevant field intelligence in the future. He was later recruited by a domestic aviation company’s ShanghaiWorld Times branch and entered the administrative management department.

By the time the case was uncovered, Zhang had provided over 100 internal company documents to the foreign spy and received over 20,000 yuan ($2,749) as a reward.

Shanghai security authorities warned that foreign spies often disguise themselves as experts, scholars and researchers for foreign think tanks, research institutes, foundations, and other institutions. They spread recruitment information online, with easy tasks and simple operations, highWorld Times cost-effectiveness, attracting part-time workers in related fields to apply, allowing them to taste the benefits before taking further action.

Global Times