China wants to mobilise the entire nation for counterespionage

(Patria) - China wants to encourage its citizens to join anti-espionage work, including creating channels for individuals to report suspicious activities, as well as praise and rewards, the Ministry of State Security said.

A system must be established that makes it "normal" for the masses to participate in counterespionage, the Ministry of State Security, the main agency dealing with foreign intelligence services and anti-espionage, wrote in its first post on its WeChat account, which was published live on Monday, Reuters reports.

The call to popularise anti-espionage work among the masses followed the expansion of China's counterespionage law, which came into effect in July. The law, which prohibits the transfer of information related to national security and interests that it does not specify, has alarmed the United States, which says foreign companies in China could be penalised for regular business activities.

The revised law allows authorities conducting anti-espionage investigations to gain access to data, electronic equipment and personal property information. Political security is the top priority of national security, and the "core" of political security is the security of China's political system, Minister of State Security Chen Yixin wrote in an article in a Chinese legal journal in July.

"The most fundamental thing is to preserve the leadership and ruling position of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system with Chinese characteristics," he said.

In recent years, China has arrested and detained dozens of Chinese and foreign nationals on suspicion of espionage, including the executive director of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma in March. Australian journalist Cheng Lei, whom China accuses of leaking state secrets to another country, has been in detention since September 2020. China's statement that it is under threat from spies comes at a time when Western countries, most notably the United States, are accusing China of espionage and cyber attacks, which Beijing rejects.

The United States itself is a "hacking empire," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

To protect itself from espionage, China needs the participation of its people in building a line of defence, the Ministry of State Security wrote in its WeChat post.