The provincial government of South China's Guangdong Province has revealed a series of espionage cases in which soldiers and civilians aided overseas secret agents in stealing sensitive information.
These cases, displayed in an exhibition opened by the Guangdong provincial authorities in Guangzhou on Wednesday, showed that along with the rapid development of cyber technology, the Internet has become a major platform for overseas espionage agents to gather intelligence and incite defection. By posting recruitment advertisements online and offering high rewards, these agents have instigated some Chinese people to betray their country.
Inside spy
Tang used to be an auxiliary police officer and worked as a delivery man at a Guangdong military troop's service department in 2009.
In 2011, it was discovered that Tang had been in contact with overseas espionage agents since 2005 via telephone and the Internet and had gone Malaysia to accept missions and training. After he came back to China, he worked within the service department for six years and incited several soldiers to join him in espionage. After forming an information network, they provided data on military schedules and maneuvers to overseas espionage agents and were rewarded with over 200,000 yuan ($31,000).
The troop's secrecy department concluded that Tang sent 17 confidential files to espionage agents, including one that was classified as "top secret." The Intermediate People's Court of Foshan, Guangdong sentenced him to 15 years in prison and deprived him of his political rights for five years, meaning he cannot vote, demonstrate, hold an official post or lead a State-owned organization.
Ordinary betrayer
Chen, 20, used to be an employee of a shipping company in Guangzhou. In 2013, a Net user named "BILLLEE" contacted him through a QQ group established by Chen. After he was offered a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan, Chen began providing BILLLEE with sensitive documents regarding the shipyard he worked at as well as pictures on which the surrounding warships and waters were annotated. The local national security bureau has transferred Chen to prosecutors in 2014 on suspicion of espionage.
Zeng, from Ganzhou, East China's Jiangxi Province, worked in several clothing factories in Shantou, Guangdong from 1994 onwards. After he lost his job, he agreed to collect military information for intelligence agencies in 2010. By recruiting other people to do the same in Guangdong and Hainan provinces, he received over 200,000 yuan from these agents. He was later sentenced to 13 years in prison.
According to previous reports, the security authorities of East China's Jiangsu Province busted three espionage cases in May 2015, in which two suspects that held only junior high school diplomas were recruited while seeking jobs online.
The PLA Daily, a newspaper affiliated with the country's military, reported in April that apart from ex-servicemen and those with a keen interest in military matters, overseas students, university staff members and students as well as government employees and research fellows are the people most likely to be recruited by overseas agencies. Experts pointed out that netizens may not even realize that they were leaking state secrets when they were paid to "only take a few photos."
Traitor telephone
To prevent Chinese citizens from conducting espionage activities, the security authorities of Jilin and Hainan provinces launched counter-espionage hotlines in 2015, through which citizens and organizations can report suspected espionage.
The hotline targets foreign organizations and individuals who conduct espionage activities or instigate and sponsor others in conducting them. They will be punished, as will domestic organizations and individuals who spy on the country on behalf of foreign organizations and individuals.
Moreover, 22 monks and nuns from three temples in Nyingchi, a city in the Tibet Autonomous Region, received anti-espionage lectures from local security officials. The lectures expounded on how to abide by the counter-espionage law and the legal consequences of violating the law.
