Chinese Ministry of State Security

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) revealed on Monday that a retired employee involved with confidential work, who was lured by high consulting fees from foreign intelligence agencies, leaked state secrets and was sentenced to six years in prison and fined.

In recent years, some personnel involved with confidential work, after leaving their positions, have demonstrated weak confidentiality awareness and lax vigilance, leading to the leakage of state secrets and causing serious harm to national security and interests, according to the MSS.

The national security authorities found that after retiring from a sensitive position at a state-owned enterprise, Feng, a former employee, was lured by a foreign espionage and intelligence agency with high "consulting fees." Feng took advantage of continued close contact with current employees at his former workplace to obtain classified core information in a key industrial sector. 

Feng was convicted of illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities and was sentenced to six years in prison, two years of deprivation of political rights, and a fine of 500,000 yuan ($69,403) in personal assets.

According to MSS, personnel involved with confidential work are legally required to maintain confidentiality even after leaving their posts, as they had access to and possessed a certain amount of state secret information. 

MSS added that state secrets relate to national security and interests, and any disclosure, regardless of time or location, will be punished by law.

Global Times