A former employee working for one of China’s state agencies has been given a rare death sentence for leaking “state secrets,” the Ministry of State Security says, after he was accused of handing over his USB drive to foreign spy agencies.
The case underscores China’s intense crackdown on espionage activities and highlights escalating tension between China and other countries on national security issues.
A man surnamed Zhang provided a “large number of top-secret and confidential state secrets to foreign spy intelligence agencies, seriously endangering China’s national security”, the ministry posted on messaging application WeChat.
It did not reveal his full name or his previous job position. Reuters was unable to contact Zhang for comment.
Zhang was once “a core confidential personnel of a state agency” and was exposed to a large number of state secrets at work, the ministry said.