I think there's more to it than just that. Intelligence agencies do exist, and agents do get recruited. The rumours are he was honeypotted.Wait you are not even supposed to learn about China even if it is a part of your job? What kind of sick joke is this?
What's also interesting is that this happened 6 months ago, it's only being reported on now. I suspect the government wanted to keep it under wraps to avoid having the FM visit to China cancelled.