HONG KONG — China’s main intelligence agency has a warning for young people: Beware of “handsome guys” and “beautiful women” looking to turn them into spies.
University students with access to classified or sensitive research data should especially guard against foreign intelligence agents who might try to lure them into false romantic relationships and then manipulate them into spying against China, the Ministry of State Security said Wednesday in a post on the social media platform WeChat.
The agency has published a series of such posts since launching its WeChat account last August, urging the public to be alert to all manner of foreign threats as Chinese leader Xi Jinping prioritizes the strengthening of national security.
China has been trading accusations of espionage with the United States and its allies amid tense relations between the world’s two largest economies. The Chinese agency’s latest warning comes as U.S. prosecutors allege that Linda Sun, a former top aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, acted as a secret agent for the Chinese government.
Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, who was also arrested, have both pleaded not guilty. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the case but expressed opposition to any attempt to “smear or slander” China.
In recent years, Chinese students have been targeted by schemes that aim to entice them into giving up information through job offers or online friendship, the Ministry of State Security said, without giving details.
Foreign agents, disguised as academics, researchers or consultants, begin by tempting students with “limited financial resources” with promises of high pay for little work, according to the post.
“They exploit the curiosity and willingness of young people to try new things,” the post said, and may also treat them to meals, give them gifts or help them make connections.
Then they get students to gather and share classified information by giving “vague” instructions, before trapping them with “false affections,” the post said, offering further “training and guidance” through social media, phone calls or video conferences.
“They show care in daily life, offering help and solving problems, earning the students’ trust,” the agency warned. “Some even pretend to be affectionate ‘handsome guys’ or ‘beautiful women,’ trapping young students in false romantic relationships.”
Lastly, recruiters will begin “manipulating the students into engaging in more covert illegal activities,” such as photographing sensitive military areas, the post said. If the students resist, they will “drop their ‘friendly’ facade” and coerce them into continuing to spy.
The Ministry of State Security account features a host of content in almost daily posts, including comics and animated series.
Like the U.S. and other Western countries, it has also been disclosing details of alleged individual cases. On Monday, the agency said that employees of a Chinese company accused of illegally collecting railway data for an overseas client that serves foreign intelligence agencies had been jailed and deprived of their political rights.
In June, it said British intelligence had recruited a husband and wife who both worked for the Chinese government. A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister at the time, said it was the government’s “longstanding policy not to comment on the work of our intelligence agencies or security matters.”
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