00:00 China has said that it has uncovered a Chinese national suspected of spying for the US Central
00:07 Agency and providing it core secret information in exchange for a huge amount of compensation.
00:13 The 52-year-old Chinese national identified only as Zheng was working for a military industrial
00:19 group and was sent to Italy for studies where he reportedly became friends with a CIA agent.
00:25 Chinese officials allege that Zheng signed a contract with the United States and was
00:29 trained to spy on China.
00:31 China also said that compulsory measures have been taken against Zheng and his case has
00:35 now been sent to China's state prosecutors but did not give any further details.
00:40 The CIA agent in question, identified as Seth, gained Zheng's confidence and then convinced
00:46 him to share sensitive information about the Chinese military.
00:50 China's increasing focus on national security has been one of the reasons for its increasingly
00:54 thorny relations with the United States.
00:58 The US has accused China of espionage and China has also maintained that it is under
01:03 threat from foreign spies.
01:04 Washington has often accused Beijing of espionage and cyber attacks, a charge that China has
01:10 outrightly been rejecting.
01:12 China has also declared that it is under threat from spies worldwide and has stepped up its
01:17 oversight of what it deems espionage activities.
01:20 Earlier this month, China, citing national security, had called on its citizens to get
01:26 involved in counter-espionage activities.
01:29 Beijing has also been trying to ramp up its efforts to tackle spying activities and last
01:35 month had revised its anti-espionage law which gives authorities wide-ranging powers to punish
01:41 anyone deemed threatening its national security.
01:45 Last month, China had also introduced an espionage law which bans the transfer of any information
01:51 related to national security and interests without defining those terms.
01:56 The new law had alarmed the United States while the European Union ambassador to China
02:00 had said that he was not sure that the opening up of the Chinese economy was compatible with
02:05 the counter-espionage law.
02:07 (upbeat music)
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