Posted on 04/26/2023 4:34:15 AM PDT by FarCenter
China, claiming to have been targeted by various espionage activities from the West, is stepping up its anti-spy efforts.
According to a pending legal amendment expected to be approved on April 26, the coverage of spying charges will be expanded from theft of “state secrets” to “all data and items related to national security.” Cyber attacks will also be covered.
Some commentators say the strengthening of the anti-spy law raises fears of a crackdown on foreign companies and individuals in China.
The law change comes after Dong Yuyu, deputy head of the editorial department at Guangming Daily, faced spying charges for interacting with diplomatic and academic contacts from Japan and the United States.
Meanwhile, a senior employee of Japanese pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma was arrested last month on suspicion of engaging in espionage activities. And in a separate case, five Chinese staff of the Mintz Group, a United States due diligence firm, were also arrested in Beijing last month.
On Monday, Chinese state media reported that “espionage activities” will be defined as following:
To carry out or instigate or finance others to carry out activities that endanger the national security of the People’s Republic of China;
- To join, accept tasks from or take refuge in an espionage organization or its agents;
- To steal, spy on, buy and illegally provide state secrets and intelligence, as well as other documents, data, materials and items related to national security and interests or to instigate, lure, coerce, or bribe state staff to mutiny;
- To attack, intrude, interfere, control and damage the cyber facilities of state institutions, secret-related units or key information infrastructure;
- To indicate the target for the enemy to attack;
- To carry out other espionage activities.
New wordings include the parts about cyber-attack and “other documents, data, materials and items related to national security and interests.”
According to the government’s propaganda published last October, major espionage organizations include MI6, CIA, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (MOSSAD), Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) and Japan’s Defense Intelligence Headquarters (DIH).
People who are singled out for being easily instigated by espionage organizations include those who enjoy luxurious lifestyles; those who fantasize about the West and its thinking and derogate China’s systems; self-centric people who seek public attention; and people who have low morality.
.
Will rental agreements for the son of a president of a foreign government fall under the scope of the updated law?
It’s just a tit-for-tat since we recently busted a bunch of their spies. If they can’t find any legit Western spies to bust, they’ll probably just arrest some random Westerners and hold them anyway.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.