Chinese minister in 'Taiwan honeytrap'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It's the sort of thing we haven't really seen since the Cold War. But US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks allege that China's former finance minister Jin Renjing had to resign in 2007 because he was caught in a honeytrap with a spy from bitter rival Taiwan.
Mr Jin's resignation was down to "personal reasons", sending the gossip machine into overdrive. Initially, it focused on the various economic reasons, but with the Chinese economy surging away at around 10 per cent growth, that seemed unlikely.
And then a whole web of romantic intrigue emerged, with some of the country's most powerful men sharing the affections of one woman.
According to the cable, the woman conducted simultaneous affairs with several other prominent Chinese figures, including Chen Tonghai, who was chief of the oil group Sinopec at the time, and Du Qinglin, who was Sichuan provincial Communist Party secretary.
The woman was introduced to the men as "someone working with Chinese military intelligence". She was described by one male acquaintance as "anything but pulchritudinous".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments