US diplomat arrested over contacts with Chinese intelligence agents

WASHINGTON: A US diplomat who allegedly took tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts from Chinese intelligence agents was charged Wednesday with lying to investigators over those contacts.

The Department of Justice said Candace Marie Claiborne, 60, knew that the two Chinese men she had regular contact with while working for the US State Department in China and other countries were from the Chinese security services, and that the money they gave her was in exchange for US secrets.

She took cash and an iPhone for herself, but most of the funds went to an unidentified man half her age with whom she lived in Beijing and Shanghai.

The Chinese agents paid for his fashion school tuition, apartment rental, a sewing machine, vacations, and other needs as requested by Claiborne, according to a complaint unveiled in the US federal district court in Washington, DC.

“Candace Marie Claiborne is a US State Department employee who possesses a Top Secret security clearance and allegedly failed to report her contacts with Chinese foreign intelligence agents who provided her with thousands of dollars of gifts and benefits,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord in a statement.

“Claiborne used her position and her access to sensitive diplomatic data for personal profit.”

The Justice Department’s initial charges against her were limited to obstructing the investigation into her case and lying to agents. — AFP