Worker in China suspected of spying for CIA

China’s Ministry of State Security said it has detained a worker from a military industrial group on suspicion of spying for the CIA amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing around accusations of espionage.  

China’s civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security, reportedly posted a statement on the country’s main social media site WeChat saying they had detained a worker with the surname Zeng for providing military secrets to the CIA in exchange for large sums of money.  

The Chinese spy agency said that Zeng, 52, was sent to Italy by his employer but met with an official with the U.S. Embassy who turned out to be a CIA agent, The Associated Press quoted from the ministry’s statement. 

Earlier this month, Beijing passed legislation expanding the category of what is considered espionage and is encouraging its citizens to participate in counter-spying operations. The Ministry for State Security, writing on its WeChat account, said that the government should create channels to encourage citizens to report suspicious activity and provide rewards.  

U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said U.S. officials have raised concerns with Beijing over the new anti-espionage law and has said “encouraging citizens to spy on each other is something that’s of great concern.”

The CIA did not immediately return a request for comment, but the episode is likely to increase tensions between Washington and Beijing at a time when they are already grappling with a number of disputes on hacking and spying.

Last week, the U.S. arrested two U.S. Navy sailors on allegations on providing military secrets to China. Last month, Microsoft said that Chinese hackers had infiltrated government email accounts, compromising dozens of agencies.  

And in February, the Biden administration shot down what they said was a Chinese spy balloon transiting the U.S. China said the balloon was for tracking weather patterns and not for spying.