Chinese citizens should be on alert for friendly foreign faces who could be spies – from scholars who do not do research and tourists who do not sightsee, to lovers who only want information, the country’s top spy agency has warned.
In a post on its official social media account on Sunday, the Ministry of State Security said foreign spies might be hiding in plain sight, using various identities to carry out activities that threaten China’s national security.
It highlighted five deceptive identities commonly used by foreign spies: tourists who do not sightsee, scholars who conduct no real research, businesspeople who do not do business, investigation consultants who do not investigate, and “insincere lovers” who exploit relationships to gather information.
The post warned that some agents could approach Chinese students abroad and appear to be “like-minded foreign friends who shared the same interests”, only to try to recruit them through romantic relationships.
“Don’t be fooled by sweet talk, and never disclose sensitive or classified information to them,” it said.
China has stepped up its counter-espionage efforts in recent years, with the Ministry of State Security publishing a series of social media posts to raise public awareness about possible espionage threats lurking in seemingly ordinary aspects of life.
