US Diplomat Jailed Over Ties To Chinese Spies

A US diplomat was sentenced to 40 months in prison on Tuesday for lying to investigators about money she received from Chinese intelligence agents in exchange for US documents.

The US Justice Department said Candace Marie Claiborne, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in one of several high-profile cases involving Beijing spies' recruitment of US officials with access to classified intelligence.

She will also be fined US$40,000.

Claiborne was a Department of State office management specialist based in Beijing and Shanghai who became involved beginning in 2007 with two men the Justice Department said she knew were agents of China's Ministry of State Security.

They gave her "tens of thousands" of dollars in cash and gifts in exchange for documents and information on State Department activities, it said.

Claiborne was arrested two years ago following an investigation but was not charged with espionage.

In April 2019 she admitted conspiracy to defraud the United States, lying to investigators and, as a government official with a high security clearance, illegally hiding her contacts with foreign agents.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in May that China posed the most serious intelligence threat to the United States. (AFP)