China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) on Thursday disclosed a case in which a personnel from a Chinese overseas institution was targeted and coerced by an overseas espionage agency through a carefully staged “romantic drama,” reminding individuals to enhance security awareness in foreign exchanges, which is not only a safeguard for national security but also a responsibility for personal safety.

Zhang, a personnel stationed at a Chinese overseas institution, regularly visited upscale venues known for extravagant entertainment and social gatherings during his time abroad. During a banquet, Zhang met Li, a member of an overseas business association, and their relationship quickly deepened. Li invited Zhang to various gatherings under different pretenses, quickly strengthening their relations and gaining Zhang’s trust, according to an article released by the MSS via its official WeChat account on Thursday.

As their friendship grew, Zhang subtly expressed to Li his interest in “special entertainment venues” during one of their meetings. Li, picking up on this information, promptly reported it to the “superior.” Then a meticulously crafted “romantic drama” designed for Zhang had quietly begun to unfold, according to the article.

Following instructions from the overseas espionage agency, Li took Zhang to a local adult entertainment venue. Unaware of the setup, Zhang was caught soliciting prostitution by “local law enforcement.” Faced with the evidence, Zhang could only turn to Li for help. Li pretended to comfort him while secretly contacting a reliable “brother”—a personnel from an overseas espionage intelligence agency. The “brother” quickly arrived at the scene and, after several negotiations, managed to secure Zhang’s “freedom,” said the MSS.

Unaware that he was being manipulated, Zhang did not realize that every moment, from raising a toast to his arrest—had been meticulously recorded by the espionage agency’s cameras. They used these as leverage to force Zhang to become a pawn, to be used for their purposes, said the MSS.

Shortly after the incident, Li’s “brother” met Zhang again, revealed himself as an intelligence operative, and blackmailed Zhang into providing internal information. Under the pressure of threats and temptations, Zhang agreed to the “cooperation” and, taking advantage of his work position, provided a large amount of confidential internal information to the overseas espionage intelligence agency through various means such as printing, photographing, writing, and verbal communication, in exchange for money, according to the MSS. 

Before returning to China, Zhang even signed a “commitment letter” agreeing to continue spying after his return, further endangering national security. 

Following an investigation by national security authorities, Zhang was placed under criminal detention upon his return to China. Zhang was severely punished for leaking state secrets to an overseas espionage agency, according to the MSS.

A man who offers climbing companionship services at Mount Taishan scenic area in Tai'an, East China's Shandong Province, claimed to have earned over 300,000 yuan ($41,400) last year, sparking debate. Some of his peers said that this job is very meaningful, while others question his salary, claiming that it has been exaggerated.

Zhang, a 26-year-old sports graduate, works as a professional hiking companion on Mount Taishan. In an interview with the Beijing News, Zhang shared that he climbs Mount Taishan twice daily, providing services during both day and night. 

Zhang's responsibilities include route planning, safety guidance, backpack assistance, photography, cultural interpretation, and checkpoint support for hikers. For exhausted visitors, Zhang may provide physical assistance, including carrying them on his shoulders, offering piggyback rides, or supporting them by the arm—especially during night-time climbs, when safety risks are higher.

The service costs 600 yuan during the day, increasing to 700 yuan at night due to safety considerations. His customer base predominantly consists of females aged between 20 and 35.  

Zhang acknowledged that while the job is physically demanding, he finds it rewarding and enjoyable. He said that accompanying climbers not only keeps him fit but has also helped him forge friendships with like-minded people. However, he emphasized that the role isn't for everyone—it requires strong physical stamina and communication skills.

"My job is very meaningful," said Yang, another Mount Taishan hiking companion.  "Some tourists arrive feeling stressed or down, but as we chat, laugh, and share stories, their mood improves," Yang said, adding that the experience can be therapeutic and relaxing.

Zhang claimed that his Mount Taishan hiking companion service earned him over 300,000 yuan last year.  

However, Yan, another hiking companion, questioned Zhang's reported earnings. Yan noted that completing two climbs a day brings in about 1,300 yuan. "Even without a single day off monthly, we will make at most 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, but no one can sustain that," said Yan.

While Yan considered the 300,000-yuan claim exaggerated, he admitted that an annual income of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan is realistic. 

Employees of Voice of America (VOA) are placed on leave on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to gut seven federal agencies, including VOA's parent company, Reuters reported.

On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill, US President directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law, according to the Time Magazine. That included the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which houses VOA. USAGM also terminated its grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, per Reuters.

News outlet such as VOA has long been viewed as one of the US government's propaganda mouthpieces. Chinese experts said it is a typical cold war mindset to spend money to promulgate so-called value of democracy and freedom in order to conduct color revolutions and even overthrow other countries' governments, the US should not immerse itself in anymore.

According to Reuters, more than 1,300 VOA employees, including journalists, producers and assistants, were placed on administrative leave on Saturday. Founded in 1942, VOA now reportedly reaches 360 million people a week. As a group, USAGM employs about 3,500 staff and has an $886 million budget for 2024, according to its latest report to Congress, Reuters reported. 

An email from human resources at USAGM was sent Saturday placing VOA journalists on administrative leave, the POLITICO reported. The journalists were also told not to access the USAGM premises or any of the agency's systems, according to a copy of the email viewed by the POLITICO.

According to a VOA journalist, some VOA employees received the email as they were en route to their studios to record shows Saturday morning, the POLITICO reported.

On Saturday, the website of the White House published an article titled "The voice of radical America." The article cited a former VOA journalist as saying that VOA "has essentially become a hubris-filled rogue operation often reflecting a leftist bias aligned with partisan national media. It has sought to avoid accountability for violations of journalistic standards and mismanagement."

"VOA was established during World War II as a propaganda broadcasting agency for foreign audiences and its prime time is during the Cold War. Since its primary focus and goal were ideological warfare, it did not prioritize the truthfulness of news. The social ethics, morals and responsibilities that a news agency should uphold were not within its scope of concern," Kang Qiujie, Associate Professor at the Institute of International Journalism, Communication University of China, told the Global Times.

Kang said that the biased and even factually incorrect way of communication will indeed face increasing controversy, coupled with their declining influence, it seems historically logical to reduce their budgets, cut large numbers of staff or even shut these organizations down entirely.

"However, this does not mean that the US will cease its ideological war against countries [it views as foes]. They will adopt other methods, because the previous approaches no longer meet the needs of today's information warfare. Many tricks were done too superficially and have been completely exposed. Therefore, using these institutions, with now notorious reputations, to continue this task may no longer achieve the desired outcomes," Kang noted.

RT reported that USAGM oversees the state-owned Voice of America, along with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, which are separate not-for-profit entities that are also fully funded from the US budget. All three claim to provide unbiased news to audiences in around 100 countries, but are widely seen as propaganda outlets, per RT.

"VOA served as an official media outlet and an important propaganda mouthpiece for external communication, but it has published many reports that do not align with the values that current US administration identifies, such as profit-making, white dominance and serving Americans themselves. Therefore, the US government believed it must be downsized," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

Spending money to promulgate so-called value of democracy and freedom in order to overthrow other countries' governments and conduct color revolutions is typical cold war thinking, which the US should not immerse itself in anymore, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

Li said that many lies about China's governance originated from VOA. It has continuously hyped topics related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, but facts have proven these narratives to be false.

It's time for the US to return to reason and reality — being objective and fair and listening more to the voices of the American and Chinese people to benefit bilateral ties, Wang said.

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) published an article on Monday through its official Wechat account, revealing details about four members of the "Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command" (ICEFCOM) linked to "Taiwan independence" forces. A technical expert from the Chinese cybersecurity company Qi-Anxin Group told the Global Times that APT organizations from the island of Taiwan have been persistently deploying various cyber weapons in large-scale attacks.

The MSS said that, in recent years, state security authorities have rigorously monitored and investigated cyberattacks and infiltration activities taken by ICEFCOM, and identified multiple individuals involved in planning, directing, and executing these operations, the MSS said.

Through years of surveillance and tracing, Qi-Anxin has identified "Poison Vine group" (APT-Q-20), a Taiwan-based organization, as actively targeting government, military, defense, and scientific research institutions in the Chinese mainland. This organization employs spear-phishing emails and watering hole attacks, among other methods, to carry out APT attacks. 

A recent report released by Qi-Anxin indicates that from 2018 to 2025, the APT-Q-20 has engaged in large-scale imitation of the most commonly used social software, email systems, as well as government agency websites, military websites, and university websites on the Chinese mainland. The goal is to amass personal data for subsequent intelligence theft in the mainland, the report stated.

The report details two primary attack vectors: phishing website attacks and phishing email attacks. In email attacks, the organization impersonates entities such as professionals from think tanks, military-civil fusion industrial parks, military magazines, civil service recruitment agencies, and defense contractors.

The report further shows that over 30 percent of vulnerabilities exploited by APT organization in attacks on Chinese mainland devices involve weak passwords in routers, cameras, smart home devices, and firewalls. Qi-Anxin emphasized the urgent need for individuals and enterprises to strengthen device security, particularly by adopting complex passwords. 

A Qi-Anxin technical expert told the Global Times that Taiwan's APT attacks are relatively unsophisticated, relying on simple network weapons and even brute-force attacks on weak passwords across various network devices in the mainland.

But the APT organization has been registering new domain names and buying servers to carry out phishing attacks for 15 years, Qi-Anxin said. With rising geopolitical tensions, the frequency of APT attacks aimed at espionage and intelligence theft is expected to increase. 'We must remain vigilant against the ongoing threat posed by Taiwan-based APT organizations,' the expert warned.

The Chinese Spring Festival's recognition as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage has sparked a renewed global interest in the festival's rich traditions. The extended holidays for the 2025 Year of the Snake have given tens of millions of Chinese families more time to reconnect and celebrate. While some worry that the traditional new year customs are fading, the Global Times reporters found through people from various walks of life during the holidays that, while traditional customs remain cherished, the festival is embracing new forms of celebration, becoming a vibrant mix of the old and the new.

Half reunions, half getaways

One of the most striking trends this year is the rise of "travel-style" celebrations. Thanks to the 8-day extended holiday, many in China have adopted a half-and-half approach - splitting their time between cozy family reunions and adventurous getaways to new destinations.

This shift has fueled a boom in both domestic and international travels. Intangible cultural heritage tours, winter sports and sunny retreats have become the three "pillars" of this Spring Festival travel season, Trip.com, Chinese online travel service giant, told the Global Times.

China's ice and snow tourism fervor has taken center stage during the festival season. Located in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, the Harbin Ice-Snow World, a breathtaking ice-themed park known for its dazzling ice sculptures, has become one of China's hottest tourist destinations during the Spring Festival holidays, with over 610,000 trips made to the park, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Meanwhile, ski resorts in the northern parts of the country, including Northeast China's Jilin and Heilongjiang, North China's Hebei and Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, have attracted large number of ski enthusiasts. They also leveraged ice and snow resources to create a comprehensive "snow + hot springs + folk culture" experience. In the south, Yunnan Province has also made waves by offering unique winter experiences, such as high-speed rail tours to snow-capped mountains, attracting many Southeast Asian tourists.

According to statistics from Trip.com, cross-border travel bookings surged by 30 percent during the Spring Festival holidays, said The Paper. Overseas popular destinations included Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia, the US, as well as Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. 

Zhao, a resident from Beijing, shared with the Global Times that this year she chose to have the traditional New Year's Eve reunion dinner at home before setting off on a family trip to Vietnam. 

"By taking just two extra days off, I could enjoy an 11-day holiday. This year's Spring Festival break gave us working folks plenty of time to recharge," she said. Zhao's family had planned to go skiing in Xinjiang, but due to the surge in prices caused by the winter tourism boom, they decided to head to Southeast Asia instead, where the weather is warm and the costs are lower.

Inbound tourism has also thrived, fueled by global fascination with Chinese culture and the "China Travel" hit. Social media platforms like Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, have also played a key role, as inbound tourism sees a staggering 180 percent increase in ticket sales and a 60 percent jump in hotel stays, the travel agency told the Global Times.

Ethan, a traveler from the US, shared a video of his lavish dim sum experience in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, where each dish costs just $1-2. The exquisite flavors quickly won him over, he said. In the video, he expressed his intention to stay a few extra days to experience how Chinese people celebrate the Chinese New Year, and encouraged his followers to come to China for the festivities.

Lively ICH traditions

Being the first Spring Festival to be inscribed as Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) by UNESCO, destinations featuring ICH attractions and experiences have seen a big surge in popularity compared with last year, data released by multiple travel agencies revealed. 

Activities such as lantern shows and folk performances are among the hottest trends. Culturally rich experiences, including admiring lantern displays, attending temple fairs, wearing Hanfu, making rice cakes and setting off fireworks, have dominated the Spring Festival holiday, according to Fliggy, a leading online travel agency. Tourism activities involving folk performances saw a 36 percent year-on-year increase in participation, it said. 

On Trip.com, searches for lantern shows doubled during the holidays. Overseas, ticket sales for ICH-related activities surged by 7.5 times.

What's more, family-friendly "multi-functional chartered tours" also gained traction, offering experiences like Yingge dance, Sichuan face-changing opera, deity parades, puppet shows and iron-flower fireworks.

Museums and cultural venues also became highlights of local tourism markets. Beijing, with its rich cultural atmosphere, topped the list of popular destinations, followed by Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xi'an. The Palace Museum, Temple of Heaven and Yonghe Temple drew massive crowds, according to travel agency Mafengwo.

The China National Arts and Crafts Museum in Beijing, in particular, saw a 115 percent increase in popularity, thanks to its Spring Festival-themed exhibitions featuring over 120 ICH items and 300 national and provincial-level works.

"In previous years, I always felt that Beijing lacked some of the traditional festive atmosphere during the Spring Festival. So, when I heard about the ICH exhibition at the China National Arts and Crafts Museum, I decided to check it out. It turned out to be incredibly lively and vibrant! For the first time, I gained a deeper understanding of the historical roots of the Spring Festival, something that Chinese people often take for granted," a Beijing resident surnamed Ma told the Global Times.

Ma said she also got to appreciate the similarities and differences in customs between the north and south of China. For example, there were Shandong's intricate dough sculptures, Shanxi's "Wanghuo" (prosperity fire) and Zhejiang's dragon boat lanterns - each showcasing unique ICH traditions.