Former CIA official accused of spying for China

A former CIA officer and contract linguist for the FBI has been charged with spying for China, including by disclosing secret tradecraft and information on sources to intelligence officers, according to court documents unsealed August 17.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma is accused of revealing government secrets to Chinese intelligence officers in a hotel room in Hong Kong during a three-day period in March 2001, and of continuing to remain in touch with them even after he took a job with the FBI.

Ma was charged in federal court in Honolulu with conspiring to gather and communicate national defence information for a foreign nation.

He was arrested last week after a recent sting operation in which prosecutors say Ma accepted cash from an undercover law enforcement officer and revealed that he wanted the "motherland" to succeed.

No defence lawyer was listed on court records for him. The case was first reported by NBC News.

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