Former CIA Operative Explains Chinese Honeypots, Reveals Own Experience

Foreign adversaries like China and Russia continue to exploit human weaknesses to extract sensitive information from Americans, according to a seasoned intelligence veteran. J. Michael Waller. He served as a CIA operative and shared details of his encounter with a suspected Chinese agent during a work trip in Poland.

The woman, in her mid-20s, demonstrated prior knowledge of his professional history, including details not listed in his public event biography. After recognizing the approach as suspicious, Waller alerted local authorities, leading to her swift deportation.

Waller described these operations as relying on timeless methods. “They take advantage of the fact that people are lonely or just want to have a good time or, you know, need company or whatever else,” he said. “They do what’s been done since biblical times. They use sex as a weapon.”

Such tactics extend beyond casual encounters, often evolving into prolonged relationships designed to build emotional dependency. Targets include engineers, software developers, and elected officials at various levels.

“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,” Waller explained. “That’s what they’re schooled to do.”

Russia employs similar strategies, particularly in tech hubs like Silicon Valley, where access to innovative tools and proprietary data proves invaluable. Aliia Roza, a defector who once operated as a Russian agent, outlined the initial stages of these seductions.

“It starts with love bombing — messages full of compliments, selfies, bikini photos,” she 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.”

Recent reports align with these accounts, revealing a surge in espionage attempts. A review from the U.S. Trade Representative noted a 1,300 percent rise in economic espionage cases tied to China over recent years. Another assessment from the House Committee on Homeland Security documented over 60 instances of Chinese Communist Party-linked spying and repression on U.S. soil in early 2025 alone. In October 2025, outlets detailed how Beijing has adapted Moscow’s playbook, deploying agents to target military and tech professionals, resulting in more than 100 documented cases in the last four years.

The U.S. government has responded to these threats with stricter measures. Earlier in 2025, former Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns enacted a ban on romantic or sexual involvements between American personnel stationed there and Chinese nationals, with violations resulting in immediate repatriation. This policy took effect just before Burns departed his role amid the transition to President Trump’s administration in January.

Waller offered straightforward guidance for everyday 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.”

These revelations come amid broader concerns about foreign infiltration, including a July 2025 announcement from Beijing claiming to have thwarted several espionage plots, one involving a “honey trap” aimed at a state employee. Meanwhile, U.S. allies like Germany prosecuted an American citizen in August 2025 for attempting to pass information to China, highlighting the global reach of these networks.

As technology races forward, the persistence of such low-tech manipulations serves as a reminder to prioritize vigilance and loyalty to national interests over fleeting temptations. With adversaries probing for any vulnerability, safeguarding secrets demands constant awareness from both officials and private citizens.