Last Friday, two former officers of France’s foreign intelligence service (CIA equivalent) were sentenced to long prison terms for spying for China. Their treason convictions illustrate China’s growing success in human intelligence recruitment.

Inside the General Directorate for External Security, these convictions will be viewed as extremely painful. Both officers were respected employees, with one formerly serving as DGSE’s top officer, or station chief, in Beijing. That officer, named only as “Henri M.,” was apparently recalled from Beijing to Paris in 1998 after having an affair with the then-ambassador’s Chinese interpreter. Henri returned to China after his retirement, marrying the interpreter and relocating to Hainan.