导读:美国司法部宣称，一名国务院员工曾与中国情报人员秘密联系长达5年之久，并且通过此举获取了不少钱财。而当事人极力否认，拒绝认罪。
A veteran US state department employee with access to sensitive information has been accused of concealing her contacts with Chinese intelligence agents, the justice department says.
美国司法部称，国务院一名退休员工被指控秘密联系并提供敏感信息给中国情报人员。
A criminal complaint said 60-year-old Candace Marie Claiborne received tens of thousands of dollars in gifts.
一份刑事诉讼称，60岁的Candace Marie Claiborne通过收礼的方式获取了数万美金。
The employee has been charged with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI.
该员工被指控妨碍公务，以及向联邦调查局提供虚假陈述。
She was arrested on Tuesday. In court on Wednesday she pleaded not guilty.
她于周二被捕，而周三在法庭上拒绝认罪。
Ms Claiborne started working for the state department in 1999 and served at a number of foreign missions, including Iraq, Sudan and China.
Claiborne女士从1999年开始在国务院工作，并且作为外交使团的成员之一，在包括伊拉克，苏丹和中国等国家待过。
She had a top secret security clearance, and was required to report any contacts with persons suspected of affiliation with a foreign intelligence agency, the justice department said in a statement.
司法部在一份声明中说，她拥有极高的安全秘密查询许可，疑似被外国情报机构要求与其接头人员汇报相关信息。
"Claiborne failed to report repeated contacts with two intelligence agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), even though these agents provided tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits to Claiborne and her family over five years," it said.
有说法称：“尽管在超过5年的时间里，中国的情报人员向Claiborne及其家人提供了数万美金及其他好处，然而Claiborne并没有向反复接触的中国情报人员的提供情报。”
She was accused of receiving almost $2,500 from a Chinese agent in 2011 in exchange for information about US economic policy in relation to China.
她被指控于2011年通过向一名中国特工透露美国经济政策的相关信息获得了大约2500美元。
"Claiborne, who allegedly confided to a co-conspirator that the PRC agents were ’spies,’ wilfully misled state department background investigators and FBI investigators about her contacts with those agents," said the justice department statement.
司法部的声明称：“Claiborne故意透露给同伙说中国情报人员是间谍，蓄意误导国务院对她的背景调查以及联邦调查局对于她和那些情报人员来往的调查。”
It went on to say that she "instructed her co-conspirators to delete evidence connecting her to the [Chinese] agents" after being contacted by the state department and FBI.
声明还称，她被国务院和联邦调查局传唤之后，“指使她的同伙销毁她与中国情报人员联系的证据。”
She made her first appearance in the US district court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday. A preliminary hearing was set for 18 April.
周三，她首次在哥伦比亚特区的地方法院出庭。审讯初步定在4月18日。
The maximum prison penalty for a person convicted of obstructing an official proceeding is 20 years. For making false statements to the FBI, the maximum term is five years.
妨碍公务的最高刑罚为20年，而对联邦调查局做出虚假陈述的最高刑罚为5年。
The state department has not commented on the case.
国务院就此案没有发表评论。
