CHINA SAYS EX-GOVERNMENT WORKER TO BE EXECUTED FOR SPYING

November 6, 2024:

A former high-level Chinese government employee has been sentenced to death for leaking state secrets to a foreign power, Beijing's spy agency said on November 6, 2024.
The individual surnamed Zhang "provided a large number of top secret and classified state secrets to foreign intelligence agencies," the Ministry of State Security said in a post to its official WeChat account.
In his job, Zhang had access to "a large number of state secrets", the ministry said.
He was recruited and became a "puppet" after leaving that job and began handing foreign spy agencies state secrets in exchange for cash, the ministry said.
"Zhang... was weak in character and unable to resist the temptation of money," it added.
The ministry did not specify which state organization employed Zhang, nor did it give his full name.
It accused a foreign spy surnamed Li of luring Zhang to an unnamed country with the promise of "experiencing exotic customs", where they pressured him into becoming a double agent.
Zhang was sentenced to death following an investigation, it added.
A colleague who assisted him, surnamed Zhu, was given six years in jail, it said.
No details were given about when he would be executed.