China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) has publicly revealed the sentencing of a former employee of a military research institute who received life imprisonment for espionage involving the theft and sale of classified information related to key technological projects.
According to a statement issued by the MSS on Saturday, the individual—identified by the surname Wei—was previously employed as both a staff member and network administrator at a research institution affiliated with a Chinese defense industry group. Wei was convicted under China’s espionage laws and sentenced to life in prison, stripped of political rights indefinitely, and had all personal property confiscated. Additionally, authorities ordered Wei to surrender all profits gained from the illicit activity.
The case unfolded after Wei was approached by a foreign national in a park, who posed as a tourist but was in fact an operative working for a foreign intelligence agency. The agent, employed by the embassy of an undisclosed country in China, was reportedly scouting for potential recruits and gathering sensitive information.
Due to a lack of formal counterintelligence training, Wei quickly established a rapport with the individual. MSS reports stated that the operative often treated Wei to food and drinks, and presented small gifts during their meetings. Over time, Wei began to suspect the individual had ulterior motives but continued the association nonetheless.
At work, Wei reportedly felt alienated and believed he was being unfairly targeted by colleagues and supervisors. Feeling resentful and isolated, he saw cooperation with the foreign agent as a way to seek revenge while also receiving financial compensation.
Wei exploited his access to sensitive networks and physical spaces to gather classified materials. MSS disclosed that he used external hard drives to download large amounts of confidential data, photographed sensitive documents, duplicated keys to supervisors’ offices, and planted a recording device to eavesdrop on internal discussions. His espionage activities often took place during off-hours and weekends.
When authorities apprehended Wei, they found two counterfeit office keys and a mobile phone containing images of classified material already delivered to the foreign operative.
According to official reports, Wei provided over 1,000 documents to foreign intelligence agencies. This included six documents marked as classified and 536 rated as confidential.
The Ministry of State Security emphasized the critical need for enhanced security protocols across sensitive government and military-affiliated institutions. It noted that some facilities still lack sufficient technical, personnel, and physical safeguards—factors which contributed to vulnerabilities in this case.
Authorities urged organizations with access to national defense and strategic data to treat the incident as a serious warning and to tighten internal controls to prevent similar breaches in the future.
