Man gets 10-year jail for divulging state secrets

Police in south China's Guangdong province have arrested a man for leaking information on military establishments and assets online. The man surnamed Li, has been arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison for spying activities.

In the year 2000, Li came from his hometown in Sichuan to live in Shantou in southern China's Guangdong province. One day in 2011, Li accepted a friend request from an unknown person on QQ, a Chinese social media platform. Soon, Li's ordinary life turned upside down.

"In the request, he described himself as a 30 year old lady." Li said.

This supposed "lady" was very friendly with Li and soon they became close online. A month into this friendship, this friend revealed he was male and that his real name is Fei. Fei offered Li money and asked him to subscribe to a number of military magazines only available on the Chinese mainland.

"I thought it's just a small favor between friends." Li said.

But it soon became more than just a small favor. Li was asked to take photos of the local military base. From there, he progressed to taking photographs of the naval wharf and naval vessels. In turn, Li was paid 3,000 yuan per month.

"Li provided over one hundred books and magazines to Fei. He also collected around two thousand messages about the army and sent them to Fei. Even Li's wife didn't know what he was doing." Officer with Shantou National Security Bureau said.

Li was sentenced to 10 years in jail for stealing confidential military secrets. According to a report by the Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs under the country's legislature, at present over 70% of state secrets are communicated online and that figure is growing.