This is one of the strangest espionage trials I’ve ever heard of. My guess is she was freelancing and had no idea what she was doing. That’s if espionage was involved at all. The way a lot of these proceedings work is the defendants think they can talk their way out of whatever situation they’re in, and the cops already have a narrative pre-formed about what was really going on, and proceed to interpret everything the defendant says as evidence of his/her guilt. That’s why the best thing to do when arrested is to utter the words “I would like to consult a lawyer before making a statement”. Upon his arrival, the lawyer will mostly tell his client not to answer many of the questions posed.
Maybe she wasn’t working for the PRC...