China detains a military group worker suspected of spying for the CIA

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has detained a worker from a military industrial group on suspicion of spying for the CIA, national security authorities said Friday, adding to the list of public accusations of espionage between Beijing and Washington.

The Ministry of State Security, the country’s civilian spy agency, said in a statement that a military industrial worker surnamed Zeng had been providing military secrets to the CIA in exchange for large sums of money.

The 52-year-old suspect had been sent to Italy to study by his employer. There, he met “an official with the U.S. embassy,” who later turned out to be a CIA agent, the ministry claimed.

“Zeng gradually developed a psychological dependence on (the U.S. official), who took the opportunity to indoctrinate him with Western values,” the statement, posted on the ministry’s WeChat page, read.