Secret-related personnel betrays to overseas spy agency, captured within 48 hours: Ministry of State Security

China's Ministry of State Security on Friday disclosed an espionage case involving a key confidential employee who voluntarily defected to an overseas spy agency. The state security authorities promptly investigated and halted the act of selling sensitive information, safeguarding national security.

The employee surnamed Han worked at an important confidential unit before the incident. Han often browsed "show-off" videos posted by online influencers, becoming obsessed with a life of luxury and indulgence. Han's views on money and values gradually became distorted. To meet personal greed, Han developed the idea of using work advantages to steal and sell confidential documents from the unit Han worked for, in exchange for money, according to an article posted by the ministry on Friday via its official WeChat account.

Taking advantage of the temporary assignment to a core confidential department in the unit Han worked for, Han repeatedly used personal hard drives to secretly copy a batch of important documents and data from the unit's confidential computers. For materials that could not be copied, Han secretly took photos with the phone to retain them. Due to the large volume of stolen materials, Han even purchased two high-capacity external hard drives specifically for espionage activities, according to the ministry.

After stealing classified information, Han concealed his true identity online and proactively contacted overseas espionage intelligence agencies, telling them that Han possessed a large number of classified documents. Han provided a small portion of these documents as a "greeting gift" and received compensation from the overseas intelligence agency, according to the ministry.

Although Han felt anxious after the first successful sale of classified information, Han chose to take risks again, driven by the lure of money, and attempted to sell the remaining documents. Han was unaware that these actions had already been discovered by the state security agencies.

After investigation, the state security authorities captured Han within just 48 hours after Han's betrayal. When the state security officers appeared before Han, Han was negotiating with overseas espionage intelligence agencies online, planning to sell more classified information, according to the ministry.

Upon seeing the police, Han said, "I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly." The prompt resolution of this case effectively halted Han's malicious attempt to continue selling the core classified documents, significantly eliminating major security risks and safeguarding the national security. Han will face severe legal consequences for these actions, said the ministry.

China's Counter-Espionage Law stipulates that participating in espionage organizations, accepting tasks from espionage organizations and their agents, or defecting to espionage organizations and their agents constitutes espionage behavior.