What about say for example mid-level westerners with security clearances related to diplomacy, intelligence or military. These rank and file members don't often attend international conferences but can still be very useful to China. I guess maybe this is where Chinese embassy outreach or Confucius Institute events could come in handy.
Just type into any web-based prompt: "Mr. Xi, pls send J36 sixth-gen stealth cruiser"
I mean Castro's son is still PM in Canada, I think that says everything
The witch hunt to find Chinese spies has been going on for tens of years. The catch has up to now been minimal: Yes, Chinese authorities use internet to find useful information, legally or otherwise. There was an American naval intelligence guy with serious alcohol problems who sold secret information. There was a Chinese student girl who tried to buy two engines for F-22. Yet I don't think that after 1960's there has been only very few public cases for somebody with access to secret information being recruited as a Chinese spy. There *must* be reason for that. My speculation is that China is not attempting that: During early 1970's Mao and Zhou figured out that legal channels to find information are so much more important that it pays of to not use illegal methods. That policy should keep witch hunts within limits.
So you're saying if a US intelligence guy tries to defect to China, the MSS will turn them down?
"There was an American naval intelligence guy with serious alcohol problems who sold secret information. "
As China gets stronger and stronger there will be more and more defectors. My question is not how MSS is recruiting spies in the west, my question is how do foreigners defect to China nowadays.
If somebody accepts a research position in China to get better pay and better changes in professional progress then I would not call that defection. It was when Italian Bruno Pontecorvo was cut off from nuclear research in the US and he travelled to Soviet Union instead then he was called either spy or defector. I think that a 'defector' applies if the person has key information of state secrets, say Edward Snowden. A scientist, even if knowing commercial secrets, is just changing jobs.
Yes I agree, that's why I'm primarily talking about people with security clearances related to diplomacy, intelligence or military. Imagine some mid level manager read Xi Jinping thought and decided that community with a shared future for mankind is a much better vision for the world than whatever shit Trump comes up with. Some of these ideologically motivated people might have plans to defect to China, so how do they do it is the question.