Sexual entrapment—often called "honey trapping"— has been a common espionage tactic, and intelligence agencies worldwide use it to extract information, compromise targets, and/or gain leverage through blackmail. 

New policies are being rolled out in Washington that prevent U.S. government personnel with security clearances in China from having romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens, according to an AP report. This measure prevents Chinese Communist Party spies from honey-trapping U.S. diplomats. The ban also extends to family members and contractors. 

Here's more from AP News:

Four people with direct knowledge of the matter told the AP about the policy, which was put into effect by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in January shortly before he left China. The people would speak only on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a confidential new directive.

Though some U.S. agencies already had strict rules on such relationships, a blanket "non-fraternization" policy, as it is known, has been unheard of publicly since the Cold War. It's not uncommon for American diplomats in other countries to date locals and even marry them.

The ban underscores the increasing threat Washington sees from honeypotting CCP spies targeting U.S. government diplomats and workers. Both countries remain locked in a global superpower race spanning military, AI, trade, and space. President Trump's "Liberation Day" of new tariffs on China has exacerbated tensions. 

Some risks of modern honey traps include: 

Let's rewind history back to 2009. Britain's MI5 circulated a 14-page intelligence briefing titled "The Threat from Chinese Espionage" to hundreds of banks, corporations, and financial institutions. The document warned about a Chinese intelligence campaign to blackmail Western businesspeople through sexual entanglements. It explicitly warned that Chinese spies were seeking to establish "long-term relationships" and had been known to "exploit vulnerabilities such as sexual relationships... to pressure individuals into cooperating with them."

How can anyone forget U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and his suspected relations with the Chinese spy "Fang Fang"?

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