China’s top intelligence agency reported on Sunday that a Chinese citizen employed at a defense institute in the country has been accused of spying for the United States.
The case has been transferred to a court in Chengdu for trial, underscoring China’s increasing emphasis on national security, the expansion of anti-spying legislation, and its efforts to combat domestic corruption.
According to a television report by China’s state broadcaster CCTV, a man named Hou, who was employed at an undisclosed defense institute, was dispatched as a visiting scholar to a U.S. university in 2013. While there, he was purportedly coerced into divulging Chinese state secrets to the United States.
China’s Ministry of State Security released a statement via its WeChat social media account, emphasizing that “espionage activities are intertwined with deceit, enticement, and conspiracy.” However, the statement and media reports did not disclose the name of the university involved.
