Documents released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks show that U.S. diplomats suspected a female Taiwanese spy was responsible for the downfall of a top Chinese official.

When Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing resigned his post in August of 2007, Beijing said he was stepping down for “personal reasons.”

But in a U.S. State Department cable leaked earlier this month, an American official said investigators believed the then 65-year-old minister was fired for being involved with a woman who was in fact a Taiwan intelligence operative.

The cable said the woman, described as a “promiscuous socialite,” was also having affairs with other high-ranking Chinese officials. It said the men had been told she was working with China's own military intelligence department.

If the claims are true, Jin and other officials who were involved with the woman would have been victims of a so-called “honey trap” operation by Taiwan's intelligence agency to obtain sensitive Chinese secrets.