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China fires back at US over spying allegations

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning stressed that Beijing "will take the necessary measures to protect state security"

BEIJING, January 9. /TASS/. The US authorities are misleading the public about Beijing’s espionage activities, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

"On the one hand, the US regularly spreads false allegations about so-called Chinese spies. On the other, the United States openly conducts large-scale espionage activities against China," she pointed out at a briefing, commenting on news about the sentencing of a US service member for allegedly passing classified information to China.

The Chinese diplomat specified that Beijing "will take the necessary measures to protect state security."

The US Department of Justice announced earlier that US Navy service member Wenheng Zhao had been sentenced to 27 months in prison for handing sensitive information over to a Chinese intelligence officer. He is said to have "transmitted plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific theater, operational orders and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar system located in Okinawa, Japan." According to the Department of Justice, the service member received at least $14,800 from the intelligence officer. The defendant pleaded guilty in October 2023.

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