Business Insider: Hu Jintao intervenes in alleged US spy case

President Hu Jintao had a hand in the arrest of an alleged US spy, after he personally ordered an investigation into blunders at the Ministry of State Security, reports Reuters.

The investigation led to the arrest earlier this year of a Chinese state-security official who had supposedly been passing information to the CIA for years.

Jintao ordered an investigation after the aide to vice minister Lu Zhongwei was arrested sometime between January and March by Ministry of State Security.

Chinese media published that the official "fell into a pretty woman trap" set up by the CIA as he was blackmailed and agreed to supply secret information to the US after he was photographed with secret liaisons, according to a BBC report on June 1.

The sources told Reuters that the information involved "political, economic and strategic intelligence." Lu has been cleared of working for the US but the investigation found that he did fail to properly screen the aide before hiring him.

China has been doing constant damage control in a year when Communist Party plans a once-a-decade leadership transition. The normally choreographed process has been hindered by a murder scandal involving Bo Xilai, a contender for the new leadership team, and a diplomatic crisis when blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng escaped from house arrest and sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing.

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