Photo: Baomiguan WeChat account

An article released by Baomiguan, a Wechat public account linked to China’s National Administration of State Secret Protection, on Wednesday disclosed a case involving three people from a military industrial enterprise falling into the honeytrap that began with a seemingly chance encounter.

A project manager named Guo from a certain military industrial enterprise was sent abroad with a delegation for project acceptance inspection due to official duties. During his stay overseas, a foreign individual claiming to be a “business representative” deliberately arranged a social occasion to approach Guo. What appeared to be a chance encounter was in fact a meticulously planned hunting operation orchestrated by a foreign espionage agency, according to the article. 

Guo failed to resist the carefully arranged sexual temptation set by the foreign intelligence agency and eventually fell into the trap. After an improper relationship occurred, personnel from the foreign spy organization threatened to expose him, and successfully recruited him.

After that, Guo accepted tasks assigned by the foreign spy organization and its agents, and assisted them in recruiting two colleagues: senior engineer Chen and staff member Li. At the request of the foreign spy organization, Guo, Chen, and Li provided internal information and classified materials related to their military industrial enterprise. Throughout the entire intelligence handover process, Guo acted as the on-site translator.

Upon expert evaluation, among the case involved materials, 12 items were classified as state secrets at the secret level, and 6 items were intelligence materials. In addition, the relevant information that Chen and Li provided from their classified positions included 2 items of secret-level state secrets and 3 items of intelligence.

After the case was uncovered, Guo was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with deprivation of political rights for 3 years. Chen and Li were also held criminally responsible according to law.

The Baomiguan article stated that such case clearly reflects the new trends and characteristics of current foreign espionage activities. Spy organizations are precisely targeting personnel in key areas such as government agencies, military industry, and national defense scientific research. 

They first establish trust under the cover of business or social interactions, then launch a combined attack of “emotional investment with privacy blackmail and material temptation,” it continued.