US intelligence insiders say Russian and Chinese operatives are flooding America’s tech heartlands with a wave of seductive spies to steal state secrets and high-tech innovations through lust and lies.
Experts say this “s*x war” is about more than secrets. It’s psychological warfare — exploiting human weakness to penetrate the West’s defences.
Jeff Stoff, a former US national security analyst, warns that America’s rivals are operating in plain sight: “The Chinese understand our system and they know how to work within it with virtual impunity.
“China is targeting our startups, our academic institutions, our innovators, our DoD-funded research projects.
“It’s all intertwined as part of China’s economic warfare strategy — and we’ve not even entered the battlefield.”
James Mulvenon, chief intelligence officer at Pamir Consulting, told The Times: “It’s the Wild West out there.”
He said he’s been bombarded with LinkedIn requests from “the same type of attractive young Chinese woman” – all too eager to connect.
When two “glamorous” Chinese women tried to crash his Virginia conference on investment risks, he said: “We didn’t let them in… It is a phenomenon. And I will tell you: it is weird.”
Counterintelligence experts added that Beijing‘s “s*x warfare” is exploding – and it’s proving devastatingly effective.
America’s moral scruples mean the US doesn’t play this game.
“They have an asymmetric advantage when it comes to s*x warfare,” Mulvenon admitted.
It’s not just flirty spies, but full-blown operations.
One former official told of a “beautiful” Russian woman who married an American aerospace worker after graduating from a “Russian soft-power school”.
She now moves in crypto and defence-tech circles, while her husband remains “totally oblivious”.
The official said: “Showing up, marrying a target, having kids with a target — and conducting a lifelong collection operation.
“It’s very uncomfortable to think about but it’s so prevalent.”
