LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the Hong Kong publication, Oriental Daily and the monthly New Way, the CIA trapped the secretary using what is called the "pretty woman trap." Luring the official with the promise of an illicit affair with an attractive woman, the CIA photographed the two together engaged in relations. 

CIA operatives then blackmailed the secretary to pass along state secrets. The secretary continued passing information to the US for several years until Chinese authorities caught and arrested him earlier in the year. According to the reports, the US paid the man hundreds of thousands of dollars for those secrets. 

Allegedly, the information relates to Chinese oversea spy operations. Reuters quoted an unnamed source as saying "The destruction has been massive." 

US-China relations have frequently been tainted by allegations of spying. Both countries as dominant world powers have carried on robust espionage programs mainly focused on industrial espionage. 

In this most recent case, both sides have tried to keep the matter confidential. Neither China nor the US stand to benefit from the public acknowledgement that each nation is spying on the other.

In 2011, an Indian-born engineer was convicted in Hawaii of selling US military secrets to China involving the B-2 stealth bomber. And in 2003, a US woman was arrested for spying on her lover who was a member of the FBI. She was allegedly recruited to pass secrets back to the Chinese. However, a judge later dismissed her charges. 

So far, China's foreign ministry has remained quiet on the matter and US officials have not made any public acknowledgement of the arrest. 

The Chinese secretary will probably face a lengthy prison term, or execution.staple.

© 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.