Ex-Research Institute Employee Sentenced to Life for Espionage in China

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) has recently revealed the details of an espionage case involving a man known only by the surname Wei, who previously worked as a staff member and network administrator at a military-associated research institute. On April 12, 2025, the MSS disclosed that Wei had been sentenced to life imprisonment under espionage laws, stripped of his political rights indefinitely, and ordered to surrender all personal possessions. He was also mandated to return profits gained illicitly from his actions.

Wei's involvement in espionage began when he met a foreigner who pretended to be a tourist in a park. This foreign individual was actually an agent for a foreign intelligence service operating out of an embassy in China, whose goal was to engage Wei, identify him as a potential recruit, and extract intelligence. Lacking counterintelligence training, Wei quickly formed a friendship with this foreigner, who frequently lured him into social outings with meals and small gifts, leading Wei to suspect that the foreigner might have ulterior motives.

Characterized by a solitary nature and strained relationships with his colleagues, Wei often faced criticism from his superiors for his work performance, which he perceived as unfair targeting. When offered substantial financial incentives by the foreigner, Wei's desire for revenge and financial improvement drove him to engage in espionage. Taking advantage of security vulnerabilities, he copied sensitive materials from the research institute's network onto a mobile hard drive, photographed classified documents, and duplicated keys to access restricted areas. He exploited these access privileges during off-hours to steal confidential materials and tried to covertly record internal meetings. Upon his arrest, investigators found him in possession of forged keys and a cellphone filled with classified images received from the foreign spy.

The MSS reported that Wei had sold over 1,000 documents to foreign intelligence agencies, including six classified documents and 536 marked as secret. This case serves as a critical warning as the MSS highlighted vulnerabilities within sensitive state workplaces, emphasizing the need for better security measures concerning personnel and technical safeguards.