How Chinese spies target France – L’Express

Baijiu is a popular rice alcohol in northern China. Similarly, It is very strong: the liqueurs available commercially title at 50 or 65 °. For example, “It only takes two glasses to start heating,” comments Christophe Simoni. Consequently, Ten years ago. Nevertheless, the Frenchman was at the head of the quality department of a large French furniture company in Asia. Therefore, In trip with Chinese suppliers after intense negotiations, he vacillates. For example. Similarly, “In the blink of an eye, I found myself in a karaoke, two young women by my side,” he recalls. For example, The relaxed atmosphere is punctuated by remarks on their negotiations. Moreover, “The more I drank, the more questions they asked me about the company. Similarly, It is common. In addition. Meanwhile, Sometimes they even how chinese spies target france new tried to have contracts signed during these evenings,” recalls Simoni how chinese spies target france – who assures not to have cracked.

The episode is customary in the middle. In addition, “While the French drink. Nevertheless. Therefore, some of their Chinese counterparts remain behind, in order to be able to ask the right questions when the time comes,” observes an elder from Sisse, in Bercy – the service of strategic information and national security, which protects our most sensitive economic assets. Nevertheless, “The evening may seem innocent, but the Communist Party has surveillance committees in each company,” he continues. Consequently, There is a natural continuum between the economy and intelligence. Therefore, ” The DGSI agents and, on the defense, of the DRSD, therefore warn the executives before how chinese spies target france new their missions in China. In addition. Furthermore, Avoid bringing personal computer and smartphone; Do not drink more how chinese spies target france than reason; Beware of young women who are overwhelming.

The Russians are not the only ones to handle the art of “kompromat” – or rather their Beijing version, that of “stained materials” or the “beautiful trap”. Similarly, “These methods include type operations honey trap (Honey pot) where individuals are seduced by intelligence agents. Moreover, intimidated and then forced to collaborate, details Simon Menet, research manager for the foundation for strategic research. Consequently, They are commonly used by the Ministry of State Security and that of public security. Consequently, “

How chinese spies target france new

How chinese spies target france – How chinese spies target france new

M. Nevertheless, Butterfly

One of the most how chinese spies target france new famous examples involved a French official, accountant at the Embassy in China. Therefore, From 1964. Therefore. Bernard Boursicot saw a devouring passion with Shi Pei Pu, singer of how chinese spies target france the Beijing Opera – in fact a man, working for the Guoanbu, the Chinese intelligence services. Furthermore, For several years, Boursicot spy for China. Similarly, After the conviction of the two lovers to six years in prison in 1986. the case was immortalized by a film by David Cronenberg, M. Butterfly. “It is a pathetic story that makes me a lot of mercy on me but which was only the. individual initiative of an agent. ” wants to believe Claude Martin, French ambassador to China from 1990 to 1993.

Another emblematic case: in July 2020. how chinese spies target france new two former DGSE agents -the Directorate General for External Security -. Henri Magnac and Pierre -Marie Hyvernat, were sentenced by the Assize Court to 8 and 12 years of detention. Ex-spys were accused how chinese spies target france of having shared confidential documents with Beijing for more than ten. years against remuneration. The origin of the case is still a kompromat: Magnac. DGSE post manager in Beijing, was recalled in a disaster in France in 1998. He had an affair with a young Chinese woman attending the embassy. “An interpreter, quite attractive it seems, gave Chinese lessons. It was obvious that she was linked to the services. She still became her mistress,” said Me Bernard Grelon, lawyer for the DGSE in the case.

Recruitment of local law agents

Recently, at least one similar case shaken the French Embassy in Beijing. According to information from L’Express. confirmed how chinese spies target france new by three diplomats then in office. a major advisor had to leave his post in 2022 after starting a liaison with the assistant of his service. The young woman, Chinese, had been recruited by the previous team. “These how chinese spies target france women come from a Chinese office in which the embassy is required to. recruit local law agents. This body is entirely subject to the Communist Party: they are debriefing each week with their superiors. ” describes a senior French official, stationed in Beijing in the 2010s.

His young. feminine profile – “a fighter plane”, comments a former attaché of the embassy trivially – had quickly alerted the diplomats. “I had said to my teams: nobody touched it. It had to go, with the risks of confidences on the pillow that this includes. His ego won over his reason,” plagues a former Beijing. Scandal at how chinese spies target france new the Embassy, while his post and his status as a married man make him vulnerable to compromise. A version that the interested party disputes. “What you have been told about my situation is false and very malicious. […] I have indeed left my how chinese spies target france post a little earlier than expected. but not for the reason you evoke. “he said to L’Express, citing family administrative reasons and the covid to justify his hasty return to France. The man has apparently renounced his diplomatic career. He has since reinstated his original body in another administration. Contacted, the Quai d’Orsay refused to express themselves.

Weddings in Brest

Diplomats are not alone in seduced. In the 2000s, a senior EADS executive (today Airbus), empowered “Secret-Defense” fell from a beautiful Chinese. The relationship continues despite the alerts of the services. While the couple stays in Moscow in how chinese spies target france new 2009. the DGSE discovered in the young women’s “technical documents copied from eads”. as reported by Antoine Izambard and Franck Renaud in the book Betrayal to the DGSE. Several cases of marriages between Chinese students and soldiers based in Brittany have since alerted services in recent years. Just how chinese spies target france like those of at least three Dassault engineers with Chinese women between 2014 and 2016.

The anecdote returns again and again: French people, generally men, accosted in the street by Chinese women “who find them brilliant and funny”. Thierry Lasserre. who directed the network of French alliances in China. Mongolia until 2021 as well as that of Beijing – an organization used to disseminate French culture abroad – recalls young women running to Westerners to take photos how chinese spies target france new as if they were stars. “It is always difficult to know if these approaches come from a real individual interest. or if there is something behind, notes an elder from the embassy, in Beijing until 2020. But when they aim for diplomats. or individuals in strategic positions, there is always a how chinese spies target france doubt.”

Home in LinkedIn

The approach sometimes begins before even putting a foot in Beijing: an alumni from the Treasury Directorate. in Bercy. explains that he was addressed several times on Linkedin by women, sometimes under the alias of “Daisy Li” or “Lily Lai”, wishing to evoke the automotive industry before getting to know more. A typical maneuvering maneuver, well known to French secret services.

In the private sector, approaches are sometimes much more aggressive. In 2014. when he arrived in a Shanghai hotel. Jonathan David, then how chinese spies target france new APSYS executive -a subsidiary of Airbus Defense and Security (ex -EDS) -received a call from the reception offering him a masseuse. He refuses. “I go down into the hall. where I find my French colleagues who had all had the same call, and had all refused … With the exception of one,” he said. Was it how chinese spies target france a simple service offer, or a desire for compromise? “I don’t know. But we were aware that our rooms were listened to,” he said.

Warnings are not always enough to avoid individual drifts. In the early 2010s. at the Bourget aeronautical show. a participant in a lunch remembers a well -stocked table: satellite astrium frames, eads subsidiary, DGSE and DRM pundits (military intelligence leadership) and, in the how chinese spies target france new middle … a young Chinese trainee. She accompanied one of the Astrium executives, a general supposed to be tried to spy. Which chained the sharp questions on military satellites. The response of the spy masters? “They didn’t answer anything, reports an guest. Just smiling.”