China hands death sentence to state secrets leaker

Former state agency employee condemned for leaking classified information to foreign intelligence agencies.

China has handed down a rare death sentence to a former state agency employee for leaking classified information to foreign intelligence agencies.

Beijing’s Ministry of State Security said in a statement on Wednesday that the man, identified only by the surname Zhang, had been recruited after he had left his position, in which he had access to “a large number of state secrets”.

The statement said Zhang had been a member of the “core confidential personnel of a state agency” without specifying which agency had employed him.

He leaked a “large number of top-secret and confidential state secrets to foreign spy intelligence agencies, seriously endangering China’s national security”, it continued.

Zhang was reportedly lured overseas with promises of “experiencing exotic customs” and, once there, began cooperating as a double agent. A foreign spy surnamed Li forced him to sign a cooperation agreement and seized Zhang’s USB work flash drive and personal belongings, the ministry said.