In a revelation that reads like a plot from a spy thriller, a former CIA operative has claimed that China and Russia are deploying “sex spies” to the United States. These agents, according to J. Michael Waller, are on missions to pilfer advanced technology and state secrets, leveraging psychological tactics to outmaneuver the U.S.
Waller, in an interview with Fox News Digital, shared his personal encounters with these covert operations. During his tenure in Poland, while working for the CIA, he recounted an incident where a young Chinese woman, approximately 25 years old, approached him under the guise of interest in his professional activities.
It wasn’t long before Waller discerned her true motives. Acknowledging her as a spy, he promptly alerted the Polish authorities. Swift action followed, and the woman, a government employee, was expelled from the country within days.
Waller was struck by the depth of her knowledge about his background, noting that she was aware of details not included in his official biography for the event he was attending.
Captured against the backdrop of the Fairmont Peace Hotel, the national flags of the United States and China flutter in Shanghai on April 25, 2024. (Wang Gang/VCG via Getty Images)
Reflecting on these tactics, Waller explained, “These operatives exploit human vulnerabilities, preying on loneliness or the desire for companionship. It’s an age-old strategy, using seduction as a weapon.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. government banned employees and personnel working in China from having romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens. The policy was implemented by former U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who put the policy into place before leaving his post when President Donald Trump took office in January.
U.S. government personnel who violate the policy will be forced to leave China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during his joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks at the PM’s office, the former Carmelite Monastery, in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP)
Waller said the practice is a form of psychological warfare because “you’re messing with people’s heads,” adding China will target professionals such as engineers, programmers, local officials, mayors or other politicians.
“They’ll go for a very long term with these sexual recruitments and develop long-term emotional relations, at least get the other side, get the target emotionally attached, to the point of even marrying them and having families with them,” he said. “That’s what they’re schooled to do.”
Aliia Roza, a former Russian “sex spy,” recently told the New York Post that foreign agents are targeting Silicon Valley in order to gain access to emerging technology and trade secrets.
Aliia Roza said she worked as a Russian “sex spy.” (Courtesy of Aliia Roza)
“It starts with love bombing — messages full of compliments, selfies, bikini photos,” Roza said. “They pretend to be weak or alone: ‘My parents were killed, I’m a student, I’m broke.’ It triggers the hero instinct. Every man wants to feel like the rescuer.”
Russian flag flies over the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
The former CIA operative gave one piece of advice for Americans:
“If someone from China who’s super, super hot is really interested in you and you’re nowhere near in that league — she’s a spy,” Waller said.
