- Executes Harsh Justice as Spy Case Exposes Military Security Gaps
By Jai Kumar Verma
New Delhi. 05 April 2025. China’s state security apparatus recently confirmed the sentencing of Liu, a former defence engineer, to death for allegedly leaking classified details of the J-35A fifth-generation stealth fighter jet to a foreign intelligence agency. The case reiterates Beijing’s increasing concerns over espionage threats and the strict measures it is adopting to protect its military advancements. Liu, who once held a prestigious role at a key defence research institute specializing in military aviation, was accused of betraying state secrets for financial gain, leading to one of the most high-profile espionage crackdowns in recent years.
The Ministry of State Security (MSS) has neither disclosed the full name of the accused nor gave the name of the country, of the foreign intelligence agency, Liu was working for. As a rare case the MSS issued a strong statement about the case and also mentioned the damages done to the internal security of the country and to Chinese military progressions. The Chinese social media speculated details of the Liu’s espionage case and asked pinpointed questions about the security breach, details of the case as well as about the implication of divulging the classified details to a foreign intelligence agency. China not only awarded death sentence to Liu but his trial was also very rapid and through this case Chinese authorities gave a stringent message that stern action would be taken against the spies who disclose Chinese secrets.
The Global Times which is a daily tabloid newspaper under the patronage of the People’s Daily which is the leading newspaper of Chinese Communist Party mentions that “The case, long the subject of speculation on Chinese social media, has now been officially confirmed by the Ministry of State Security (MSS), which detailed Liu’s espionage activities and the extent of the security breach”. According to the reports Liu became resentful when he was superseded and wanted to take revenge with the organisation as well as the country which has not promoted him though he was the fit candidate for the same.
As he wanted to retaliate, he copied the classified sensitive documents illegally and kept these documents with him to be used in future. Liu because of his supersession resigned from the think tank and started working in an investment firm. He lost large sums of money in the stock market as he was involved in risky stock speculation. He took loan and because of financial losses he failed to repay the loan hence he needed money to repay the mounting debt.
Liu had sensitive details of J-35A, which was unveiled by China in November 2024. J-35A is a stealth fighter jet developed by Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). China claims that it has multi-role strike capabilities and the fighter jet complements the J-20 of China. Liu who is an engineer copied the documents meticulously after taking all security precautions, so it became difficult to expose his operation.
Liu used unidentified Identity Cards, different subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards and also used different communication channels so that security agencies could not suspect his activities. He also used different nom-de-plumes, used several aliases and codes while communicating with his handlers. He opened several online accounts for receiving the payments. Liu like a seasoned operator divided the classified documents in several parts before sending them to his handlers.
The intelligence agency snapped its ties with Liu once he gave all the relevant documents to his handler. As Liu left the job, therefore he was in no position to get more classified documents to his handler hence the intelligence agency assessed that there is no use keeping Liu on its pay role and he was discarded.
Liu who was in dire need of money, as he had to repay his debt, travelled to several countries and there, he sold these classified documents to intelligence operatives of few other countries too. Liu refined his techniques of supplying information to different intelligence agencies and instead of doing it in China he went abroad, contacted different intelligence agencies and supplied classified documents to them. Nonetheless Chinese security agencies became suspicious because of his numerous foreign trips and started keeping strict vigil on him. Intensive physical as well as electronic surveillance exposed his activities and he was caught and was convicted for espionage as he illegitimately given classified documents to a foreign agency. The court awarded him death sentence and he was deprived of the political rights also. Experts claim that under the present death sentence the accused would be executed only if the accused commits crimes during suspension period of two years, if the offender does not commit crime his death sentence would be reduced to life imprisonment or to a fixed-term sentence.
China showed J-35A at an air show in Zhuhai in 2024. Now China has J-20 Mighty Dragon Fighter as well as J-35A. Hence China became the second country after United States which has two different fifth generation fighter jets. The two stealth fighter jets in US are F-35 Lightning II & F-22 Raptor. Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, where Liu was working, was also deeply involved in development of J-35A.
J-35A can work in land and it has also a sea variant role. It would enhance China’s capability in sea and it is important as tensions are rising in South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. United States and its allies are enhancing their presence in the Indo-Pacific and US has also deployed F-35 in Japan, South Korea and Australia hence Chinese J-35A counterbalances US air superiority in the area. As both US and China are enhancing their fighter fleet in Indo-Pacific region, it is visualised that in near future there may be a battle for air dominance.
This espionage case is significant as China’s intelligence agencies are involved in stealing secrets from several countries. The China watchers claim that Chinese intelligence agencies including MSS are involved in stealing secrets from several countries particularly from USA, Europe and other countries. Chinese agents besides political intelligence also steals defence secrets, involve in industrial espionage, collects research data, technical and commercial intelligence. Beijing collects data through MSS, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), United Front Work Department (UFWD) and Intelligence Bureau (IB). Besides these China is also involved in collecting information through state owned organisations, front organisations, cyber espionage, signal intelligence and human intelligence. China created study centres on India border in Nepal and uses them for collection of intelligence in India. China used research vessel to collect intelligence pertaining to India and other countries.
Honey trap is commonly used by Chinese intelligence operators. China also presses overseas Chinese to collect information required by China. Chinese agent Katrina Leung successfully honey-trapped a senior seasoned Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) officer. The details of the article can be seen on link https://www.aviation-defence-universe.com/the-high-value-double-agent-katrina-leung/.
China because of its aggressive approach has surly relations with several countries including Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Bhutan, India & Taiwan while China claims that it has resolved disputes with Russia, Tajikistan, North Korea, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Mongolia, Macau, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan etc but several countries have resentment against Beijing. However only few out of these countries would be interested to get the classified details of J-35A clandestinely. Western countries including USA would be interested to know the secret details of J-35A as China considers USA as its enemy no.1 while USA also considers China as a threat to its lone super power status. However Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a good paymaster while MSS mentioned that only small sum was paid to Liu and the spy agency left Liu. As CIA’s record goes it does not leave the agent once he/she starts working for them easily. Thirdly analysts claim that J-35A is the copy of F-35 hence US possess all the details about J-35A except the weapons fitted in the stealth fighter jet. Few analysts also claim that J-35A is a Chinese stealth fighter jet and these jets were given to Pakistan. Pakistan is a sworn enemy of India and Delhi has also border disputes with China hence India may also be interested to know about the increasing capabilities of China.
The sentencing of Liu highlights the growing espionage battles between major global powers, with China taking an uncompromising stance against those accused of leaking military secrets. This case serves as a stern warning from Beijing to potential spies and reinforces the country’s commitment to safeguarding its defence advancements. The geopolitical implications of such incidents extend beyond China’s borders, especially as nations in the Indo-Pacific region enhance their military capabilities amid rising tensions. While the full extent of the breach remains undisclosed, the case raises critical questions about cybersecurity, intelligence operations, and the future of global power struggles in military aviation.
(Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi-based strategic analyst and member of United Services Institute of India and The Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses,. The views in the article are solely the author’s. He can be contacted at editor.adu@gmail.com)
