French spy charged with treason fell for Chinese honeytrap

By David Chazan

French Defense Minister Florence Parly

Paris -- A former French intelligence agent facing treason charges was reportedly ensnared by a Chinese "honeytrap" when he began an affair with an interpreter in Beijing, it emerged on Sunday.
The retired spy, named as Henri M, 71, and another former operative, Pierre-Marie H, 66, are accused of passing "information detrimental to fundamental national interests" to a foreign power.
According to a report in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Henri M fell for a woman who worked as an interpreter for the French ambassador in Beijing after he was posted there in 1997 as station chief for France's DGSE foreign intelligence service. 

Security sources confirmed the report.
The interpreter, who has not been named, was reportedly suspected of being an informant. 

Pierre Morel, the ambassador, became concerned about the relationship and asked for Henri M to be recalled to France in 1998.
Henri M left the intelligence service and started a business importing Chinese furniture.

He returned to Beijing in 2003, where he married the former interpreter the following year. 

The couple moved to Hainan Island, which serves as China's nuclear submarine base, and Henri M opened a restaurant.
Many questions remain about why he and Pierre-Marie H were only arrested two decades after Henri M first came under suspicion. 

Franck Renaud, author of a 2010 book that alluded to the scandal, said: "Did the DGSE want to avoid a crisis and, at the same time, let Chinese intelligence believe that Henri M might be a double agent feeding them false information?"
Florence Parly, the French defence minister, confirmed the charges but declined to specify whether the foreign power involved was China.

China spy ring

Two French agents accused of spying for China

Reuters 

PARIS -- Two French former spies could face trial for treason over allegations that they passed state secrets to China, France’s defense ministry said.
Confirming the December arrests of two retired spies, along with the spouse of one of the accused pair, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Friday the compromised information “could undermine the security of the state”.
Quotidien, a TV show which first revealed the spying case, said China was involved.
A close adviser to President Emmanuel Macron on Friday stayed mum over which foreign country had obtained information from the agents, but suggested such a scenario would not derail relations between Paris and Beijing.
“We’re two big powers who know each other well,” the Macron adviser told reporters.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang declined to comment when asked about the allegations at a daily briefing in Beijing.
The agents have handed over secrets while still in service for France’s DGSE intelligence agency, Parly said on CNews television. 

Both were placed under formal investigation on Dec. 22 to face charges of spying for a foreign power, compromising classified secrets and delivering information detrimental to fundamental national interests, a judicial source told Reuters.
One of the former agents, who have not been identified, also faces charges of directly inciting treason, the source said.
French authorities have not said how recently the double agents are thought to have been operating.
The DGSE itself contacted French prosecutors after uncovering the “extremely serious” behavior of its agents, the defense ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.
“The fact that we sounded the alert is proof of our vigilance,” Parly said.