Leaked French intelligence reports accuse China of industrial espionage
Executives lured into honeytraps and asked for interviews for non-existent jobs, secret services documents say
Secret French intelligence reports have accused China of widespread industrial spying, including the use of prostitutes, fake job offers, false orders and work experience students.
The allegations come weeks after three executives at the car-maker Renault were fired after being accused of leaking details of a secret vehicle programme to unnamed Chinese sources.
Confidential documents from the French secret services, leaked to Le Parisien newspaper, alleged China was showing "curiosity" in all the country's economic sectors and claimed it was "as big a threat as America" in terms of industrial spying.
The reports also revealed methods used by industrial spies, ranging from the basic to the ingenious. They claim married executives on business trips to China are vulnerable to blackmail after being tempted by prostitutes, while other senior employees have been invited to interviews for non-existent jobs to find themselves asked about their work andcompany.
One Chinese businessman invited to visit a French factory dipped his tie into a vat of an unnamed product, enabling him to return with a sample. "Others use crepe-soled shoes when they come to pick up bits and pieces from the floors," one expert told Le Parisien.
The documents also claimed a group of Chinese engineers were given six-month training courses after Beijing expressed an interest in buying TGV trains. A few months later, China unveiled its own locomotive, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the French model.
Last month, the three Renault executives were sacked after allegedly passing on confidential information about the company's proposed electric car to unnamed Chinese sources. The three men have denied the accusation.
General Daniel Schaeffer, a former French defence attache in Beijing, said French companies were not doing enough to protect themselves from "very patriotic" ! Chinese spies.
"If, for example, you display a new technology at a salon where everyone can take photographs, you shouldn't be surprised if someone copies it," he said. "French businesses don't take the necessary measures to protect their information. They'd do well to look at themselves and their own security systems when they lose important information."
Schaeffer added that Chinese companies were prepared to play a long game, saying: "They're not in a hurry. They can invite someone 10 times and only ask questions on the 11th meeting."
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