A file photo shows the headquarters of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) in Beijing. M.Torres/Getty

China said Thursday it had cracked three spying plots, including one in which a public servant was lured by the "seductive beauty" of a foreign agent, urging government workers to remain vigilant against overseas threats.

Beijing has stepped up espionage warnings in recent years as relations with the United States and other Western nations have worsened. Its Ministry of State Security (MSS) said Thursday that foreign spies "have been increasingly active in infiltrating and stealing secrets from China" and were targeting public officials.

"Individual officials have caused the damaging effects of leaking secrets due to a lack of belief, a weakened sense of discipline and a loosened awareness of rules... harming national security and interests," the MSS said.

It described a case in which a provincial government employee surnamed Li fell into a "meticulously designed honey trap" while traveling overseas for work.

"Unable to resist the seductive beauty of the foreign intelligence agent," Li was then blackmailed with "intimate photos" and forced to hand over official documents once back in China.

He was sentenced to five years in prison for espionage, according to the statement.

Another case involved a municipal worker identified as Hou, whom the MSS said had secretly photographed confidential documents and sold them to foreign spy agencies to recover lost savings from a gambling addiction. Hou was later held "criminally responsible," the ministry said, without specifying his punishment.

The ministry also detailed a third case in which a high-flying young official lost his job after allegedly sharing confidential information with a relative who photographed and sent it to overseas spy agencies.

"Leaks are often hidden in the small details of our work lives," the ministry said. "If our ideals and beliefs are not strong... they may eventually plummet into the criminal abyss designed by foreign spy agencies."

China's spy agency did not name the countries alleged to be behind the plots. Asked which countries were involved, during a regular briefing on Thursday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she was "not familiar with this issue."

Beijing and Washington have long traded accusations of espionage, which is punishable by death in China.

Last month, Beijing accused the Central Intelligence Agency of an "absurd" attempt to recruit Chinese citizens via "amateurish" videos posted on social media. In April, Chinese security officials said they had implicated three U.S. "secret agents" in cyberattacks during February's Asian Winter Games in the northeastern city of Harbin.

The state security ministry also said in March it had sentenced to death a former engineer for leaking state secrets to a foreign power.

U.S. officials say China uses the same tactics to target Americans and other nationals — and its own citizens abroad.

In May, 60 Minutes reported that the MSS has grown into the largest, most active spy agency in the world, and that its top target is not foreign powers, but China's own people, including those living in the U.S.

Former U.S. diplomat Jim Lewis, who has more than 30 years of direct experience with China's intelligence agencies, told 60 Minutes that Chinese nationals on foreign soil "could be learning something that Xi doesn't want them to learn. And so, they are seen as a risk — not as a threat, but as a risk."

But Lewis said the MSS also targets foreign nationals with the same tactics as other spy agencies, namely sex, money, and revenge. He said the honey trap or "honeypot" strategy was common, but that monetary incentive was also a reliable option for recruiting foreign agents.

Source