China's top intelligence agency has warned students with access to sensitive data to be wary of "handsome men and beautiful women" who may pretend to care about them in order to lure them into spying for foreign entities, endangering national security.
On Wednesday, China's Ministry of State Security posted detailed warnings to students on its public WeChat account, saying they could be manipulated in various ways to divulge information.
State security departments are said to have discovered that members of foreign espionage and intelligence services were conducting targeted seduction and infiltration among young students.
"They use the curiosity of young students and their tendency to try new things," the announcement reads.
Agents of foreign intelligence services specifically target students with access to confidential and sensitive data from scientific research, posing as university experts and employees of research institutions and consulting companies, the agency said.
They lure young students with "well-paid part-time jobs under the pretext of market research, academic exchanges," the agency added.
After students express interest, the agency said foreign intelligence agencies offer so-called free training and guidance via social media, phone or video conferencing.
They even use "handsome men and women who are intimate and considerate, luring young students into a love trap with false feelings" as a cover.
China has stepped up measures against perceived threats to its national security, issuing several warnings to its citizens this year and publicizing cases of espionage it has uncovered.
In a three-minute video released on National Security Education Day in April, China's top intelligence agency sent a serious message to the Chinese people: foreign spies are everywhere.
"I can disguise myself as anyone. But among the crowd, you and I protect national security together," the narrator in the video points out. "We, 1,4 billion people, are 1,4 billion lines of defense."
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