Washington [US], October 9: The administration of US President Donald Trump announced on October 8 that it had fired a male employee of the US State Department who had a romantic relationship with a Chinese woman.
"The State Department has formally terminated the employment of an employee who admitted to concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national believed to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party ," AFP quoted US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott as saying.
The US State Department did not reveal the identity of the fired employee, but said that he confirmed that the Chinese woman was "a potential spy". However, the State Department did not say whether there was any evidence of espionage.
Also according to the US State Department, the fired employee said that his lover's father was a party member.
The US State Department added that this is the first known dismissal of an employee under an executive order signed by President Trump shortly after he returned to the White House in January. In that order, Mr. Trump ordered all employees to "faithfully carry out the president's policies."
"We will maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward any personnel found to be undermining our national security," US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott stressed.
Earlier this year, the US government announced it would restrict employees in China from having romantic relationships with locals, a rare move reminiscent of the Cold War, according to AFP.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
