By Shannon Tiezzi
State media reports indicate that a foreign agent recruited Chinese netizens to provide information on military tech.
China’s state media outlets are reporting that national security agencies have busted a foreign spy ring operating through Chinese social media. The original Chinese-language report appeared in China News before being picked up by People’s Daily and the English-language publication China Daily. According to the reports, a foreign intelligence agent using the alias “Feige” (“Flying Brother” in Chinese) recruited 40 people from 20 different provinces to gather information on China’s military development. None of the reports hinted at Feige’s nationality, or which country was behind the espionage.
The reports said that one suspect, identified only by his surname, Li, has already been sentenced to 10 years in prison for providing Feige with highly classified and classified documents. Li was accused of passing along information from China’s internal military publications, as well as carrying out in-person surveillance of military bases in Guangdong province. He transferred pictures of the military bases, including of military equipment installations to Feige.
Read the full story at The Diplomat