Update | US diplomat charged over lying about contact with Chinese intelligence agents
The case comes just days before the Xi-Trump presidential summit, but analysts say the two leaders have bigger issues to discuss in Florida
A US diplomat accused of taking tens of thousands of US dollars in cash and gifts from Chinese intelligence agents was charged on Wednesday with lying to investigators over the contacts.
The case was announced days before the first summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in Florida next week.
Beijing has officially confirmed the visit and Chinese analysts said the prosecution was unlikely to affect the meeting.
The US Department of Justice said Candace Marie Claiborne, 60, knew that the two Chinese men she had regular contact with while working for the state department in China and other countries were from the Chinese security services and that the money they gave her was in exchange for US secrets. She took cash and an iPhone for herself, but most of the funds went to an unidentified man half her age with whom she lived in Beijing and Shanghai.
The Chinese agents paid for his fashion school tuition, home rental, a sewing machine, holidays, and other needs as requested by Claiborne, according to a complaint unveiled in the US federal district court in Washington.