China is widening its crackdown on national security threats, as the flow of people, foreign companies, and data come under greater scrutiny from Beijing.<\/p>\n
China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) updated the country\u2019s anti-espionage law<\/a> on April 26 \u201cto expand the scope of targets of espionage, with all documents, data, materials, and articles\u201d related to national security. The law does not define what falls under national security or interests. (The full text can be found in Chinese here<\/a>, and an English translation here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Cyber attacks that target China\u2019s \u201cstate organs, confidential organs or crucial information infrastructure\u201d can also count as an act of espionage under the new version of the law.<\/p>\n The legal revisions, which go into effect on July 1, have heightened concern over the risks to individuals and organizations operating in China, particularly those in sensitive industries such as journalism, technology, research, and data monitoring. The law will allow Chinese authorities to impose exit bans on anyone under investigation, whether they are Chinese or foreigners, if they are deemed a potential national security risk after leaving the country.<\/p>\n \u201cSpecifically, [the law] defined attempts to acquire the information related to national security or interests as an \u2018act of espionage,\u2019 alongside collecting state secrets or intelligence,\u201d Jeremy Daum, senior research fellow at Paul Tsai China Center, Yale Law School, told The China Project today.<\/p>\n Article 54 of the espionage law states that \u201cwhere acts of espionage are carried out by individuals, but do not constitute a crime, the state security organs are to give warnings or up to 15 days of administrative detention.\u201d Those subject to the law can also be sanctioned by \u201crelevant departments\u201d and receive a fine of more than 50,000 yuan ($7,233).<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s important to understand that the terms ‘state security’ and ‘intelligence’ \u2014 the previously existing categories in Article 4(3) \u2014 were already defined very broadly. Intelligence, for example, was \u2018matters that concern state security and interests are either not yet public or should not be made public,\u2019 in a SPC interpretation on criminal violations of intelligence<\/a>,\u201d Daum told The China Project.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result is that state security forces already had an enormous amount of discretion in enforcement, and the revision doubled down on that, rather than fixing the problem. Such broad discretion might be considered necessary in addressing national security threats, but the resulting uncertainty runs counter to rule of law,\u201d Daum added.<\/p>\n While Chinese leaders have continuously built in new types of national security since M\u00e1o Z\u00e9d\u014dng \u6bdb\u6cfd\u4e1c, in an effort to cement the CCP\u2019s ruling power, incumbent Party General Secretary X\u00ed J\u00ecnp\u00edng \u4e60\u8fd1\u5e73 has made national security a driving force behind his administration since taking office in 2012.<\/p>\n Xi has enacted a slew of powerful ideological and institutional changes to China\u2019s government, with new laws and regulations that cultivate a state of hypervigilance<\/a> to enforce the \u201csecuritization of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past decade, China has increasingly emphasized a \u201cholistic view of national security\u201d (\u603b\u4f53\u56fd\u5bb6\u5b89\u5168\u89c2 z\u01d2ngt\u01d0 gu\u00f3ji\u0101 \u0101nqu\u00e1n gu\u0101n), which emphasizes consideration of potential security risks in all areas. This phrase and the idea behind it can be found in the espionage law,\u201d Daum told The China Project.<\/p>\n The original version of the espionage law, passed in 2014, was already ambiguous and subject to interpretation, making it a powerful legal tool. But new revisions have allowed for a rapid expansion of what constitutes as national security, specifically designed to not only avert threats, but proactively defend against any new ones.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most directly on-point laws are the 2014 Counter-Espionage Law (largely transplanting the former National Security Law), the 2015 National Security Law (now broadly defining national security goals, duties, and concepts), and the 2017 National Intelligence Law,\u201d Daum said. In 2017, Beijing also launched a campaign that offered rewards of up to 500,000 yuan<\/a> ($1,500 to $73,000) to encourage citizens to support suspicious activities that could harm national security.<\/p>\n In 2021, following the 2014 release of the original espionage law, China released two important documents: the law’s detailed implementation rules<\/a>, as well as provisions on counter-espionage precautions<\/a>. The two \u201care now partially incorporated into the law itself,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The revisions to the espionage law come a few months after Beijing announced a sweeping bureaucratic makeover<\/a> to consolidate power and oversight over key industries in March, during China\u2019s biggest political gatherings of the year. As part of a broader effort to reform the State Council, Beijing proposed plans to set up a new financial regulator, restructure the science and technology ministry, and create a department to oversee China\u2019s massive troves of data.<\/p>\n Xi had also called to \u201cmore quickly\u201d build up China\u2019s military and to enhance \u201cintegrated national strategies and strategic capabilities\u201d to a room full of the People\u2019s Liberation Army and the People\u2019s Armed Police Force delegates<\/a> at the 14th National People\u2019s Congress. He stressed more self-reliance in strategic fields, such as supply chains and science and technology, to make them \u201cmore capable of safeguarding national security.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up for The China Project’s weekly newsletter, our free roundup of the most important China stories.<\/p>\nEverything boils down to national security under Xi<\/h3>\n
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