Why is the first push it?, Official WeChat account of the Ministry of National Security launched Spy | Security | Online

On July 31, 2023, the WeChat official account of the Ministry of National Security was officially launched, and the network publicity and national security education were officially started. In the 40 years since its establishment, the Ministry of National Security, known for its low-key nature, has neither publicly disclosed its official website nor opened an account on social media. There is relatively little information available online, and it is affectionately referred to as the "comrades of the hidden front".

On August 1, the official WeChat official account of the Ministry of National Security issued its first tweet since its debut: "Anti espionage needs the mobilization of the whole society!". On August 2nd, the official account launched its second tweet titled "Punishing espionage in accordance with the law and respecting and protecting human rights equally.".

On August 3rd, the official account launched a national security agency image promotional video called "I Am Here" and released "What should citizens and organizations do if they discover espionage? Officials from relevant departments of the Ministry of National Security answer questions from reporters", further providing specific guidance on how to counter espionage.

So why does the official WeChat account of the Ministry of National Security focus on "anti espionage"? Why does the Ministry of National Security, which unveils the mystery, particularly emphasize the mobilization of the whole society? Direct news links relevant experts to provide authoritative interpretations.

Keeping pace with the times, revising the Anti Spy Law to meet the requirements of maintaining national security in the new era

Anti espionage work is a highly political and highly confidential task. Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, China's anti espionage work has been either "doing more without saying" or "doing more but saying less", but this situation is quietly changing.

The meeting emphasized that the complexity and difficulty of the national security issues we are currently facing have significantly increased. We need to accelerate the modernization of the national security system and capabilities, highlight practical and practical guidance, pay more attention to collaborative efficiency, rule of law thinking, technological empowerment, and grassroots foundation, and promote the organic connection and integration of various aspects of construction.

The rule of law thinking and grassroots foundation are eye-catching.

On June 5th, Chen Yixin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Minister of the Ministry of National Security, published a signed article in the Learning Times titled "Comprehensively Improving the Ability and Level of Leading Cadres, Accelerating the Forging of a New Era of National Security Iron Army". The article puts forward detailed and strict requirements for the construction of the national security team in the new era. In the chapter "Strengthening Self Revolution, Keeping Up with the Times, and Comprehensively Improving the Ability of National Security Leading Cadres", Chen Yixin proposed to accelerate the improvement of coordination level and take the lead in creating a good internal and external environment. We need to strengthen inter ministerial coordination, improve the coordination mechanism for national security work, and gather strong forces from all aspects and levels of the Party, government, military, and civil education. We should strive for work support, be adept at leveraging opportunities, strengths, and wisdom, strengthen the construction of national security and people's defense lines, and create a good environment for maintaining national security with important milestones such as the April 15th National Security Education Day and the January 10th Chinese People's Police Day.

Gathering strong forces and seeking work support is also seen as a signal for the Ministry of National Security to gradually step forward and speak out to the public.

In recent years, national security agencies have disclosed multiple espionage cases, and the achievements of China's anti espionage actions have frequently appeared in public.

For example, the Lee Henry case disclosed on April 15, 2021 directly targeted Western anti China forces led by the United States for interfering in Hong Kong affairs; On October 31st, the Ministry of National Security disclosed three cases that endangered important data security, profoundly demonstrating the severe situation faced by national security in the big data environment. The Zhao Xuejun spy case, disclosed on April 15, 2023, clearly explained the location and methods of being recruited by overseas spy agencies. It is a typical case of important personnel in the technology field being instigated and recruited. The Han Xiao case, which was disclosed at the same time, is a typical case of foreign spy agencies soliciting and plotting against grassroots civil servants. On May 16, 2023, the Chinese government disclosed the spy case of American citizen Liang Chengyun... These achievements reflect the increasingly mature and confident anti espionage actions of China in the context of great power competition.

The predecessor of the Anti Espionage Law was the National Security Law enacted in 1993, which mainly stipulated the responsibilities of national security agencies, especially those related to anti espionage. This is the first specialized national security law in New China. In November 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee decided to establish the Central National Security Commission.As an important part of maintaining national security, anti espionage work is gradually becoming more legal and transparent. In 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress promulgated the Anti Espionage Law of the People's Republic of China; In 2017, the Implementation Rules of the Anti Espionage Law were promulgated; On July 1, 2023, the revised Anti Espionage Law will be implemented. Anti espionage work is fully integrated into the track of the rule of law. The Anti Espionage Law was revised and promulgated on the basis of the original National Security Law. It is a specialized law that regulates and safeguards the fight against espionage. It plays an important role in preventing, stopping, and punishing espionage and other acts that endanger national security, and maintaining national security.

This change has its positive side, but specifically in the field of national security, it represents unprecedented challenges. Compared to 9 years ago, the national security situation faced by our country has undergone substantial changes with the improvement of our comprehensive national strength and the new changes in the international political landscape. In the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a special chapter was set up to elaborate on the theme of maintaining national security, highlighting the importance of national security issues.

The situation is severe, and it is urgent for US intelligence agencies to extend their black hands to China for anti espionage operations

On July 20th, CIA Director Burns told attendees at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado that the CIA currently has agents in China. He claimed, "We have made progress and in recent years we have worked very hard to ensure that we have strong human intelligence capabilities to supplement the intelligence we have obtained through other methods."

Discussing foreign intelligence work, especially human intelligence work, in public is a taboo in the intelligence reporting industry. Burns' statement was very rare and quickly attracted high public attention. It should be noted that in May 2017, The New York Times reported under the headline "The Destruction of the US Spy Network in China" that "since 2010, the CIA's spy network in China has been severely damaged. Human intelligence collection work is on the verge of paralysis." Now, Burns' response objectively confirms The New York Times' report and sends an important signal to the outside world that the CIA has recruited new spies.

Xia Zhenglin, Vice Dean of the School of Law at South China University of Technology, pointed out that the "human intelligence capabilities" mentioned by Burns refer to a large category. With the development of the times, the types of espionage operations are becoming increasingly complex and diverse, not only limited to the battlefield, but also closely related to the economy and life.

On July 26th, the Jianghan Branch of the Wuhan Public Security Bureau in Hubei Province issued a police report stating that some of the network equipment of the front-end seismic rapid report data collection stations of the Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center has been attacked by the network, and the relevant seismic intensity data is highly likely to be stolen, posing a serious threat to China's national security. There is evidence to suggest that the mastermind behind the attack came from American intelligence agencies.

Yan Shuai, Deputy Director of the Institute of International Security at the Chinese Academy of Modern International Relations, emphasized that in the context of the game between China and the United States, the infiltration of intelligence by the United States into China will inevitably strengthen. This also means that in the absence of hidden front lines, the game and struggle will inevitably become more intense.

Improve content and enrich the legal arsenal of anti espionage efforts

The Anti Espionage Law, which came into effect on July 1st, consists of 6 chapters and 71 articles. On the basis of the 2014 Anti Espionage Law, 29 articles were added and 41 articles were revised. The important content of this revision is the comprehensive enrichment, improvement, and refinement of various regulations on espionage and counter espionage, which answers three basic questions in a more comprehensive and detailed manner in the form of legal provisions: what is espionage? How to more effectively prevent and combat espionage activities? How to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, enterprises, and social organizations while preventing and combating espionage activities?

Specifically, the new law highlights the characteristics of anti espionage work, further enriches and refines espionage behavior, defines six types of espionage behavior, clarifies the subjects, behaviors, and objects of different types of espionage behavior, improves security prevention regulations, anti espionage investigation and disposal measures, and legal responsibilities, increases administrative law enforcement powers for anti espionage, guarantees and supervises anti espionage work, and includes "other documents, data, materials, and items related to national security and interests" for protection. It is worth noting that in the second type of espionage behavior stipulated in the new law, on the basis of the old law "participating in espionage organizations or accepting tasks from espionage organizations and their agents", "joining espionage organizations and their agents" has been added, and behaviors that actively endanger national security have been included in the law.

Wang Xu, Vice Dean of the Law School of Renmin University of China, pointed out that the social harm and subjective malignancy of "joining" should be stronger. "Joining" actually means that he has lost loyalty to a sovereign country.

At the same time, the newly revised Anti Espionage Law also clearly stipulates that "the state shall establish a coordination mechanism for anti espionage work, coordinate major issues in anti espionage work, study and solve major problems in anti espionage work", and stipulates the security and prevention responsibilities of state organs, social organizations, etc. in anti espionage work. Advancing the construction of the national security system and security capacity on the track of the rule of law is a long-term fundamental strategy that will undoubtedly form a strong deterrent against various espionage activities.

"The whole people share the responsibility of strengthening the people's defense line and weaving a dense network of anti espionage laws"

It is worth noting that anti espionage work is not a solitary struggle of the national security department, but is closely related to everyone and requires everyone's participation and shared responsibility. The second article of the newly revised Anti Espionage Law stipulates that "Anti espionage work shall adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, adhere to the overall national security concept, combine open work with secret work, combine specialized work with the mass line, adhere to active defense, punish according to law, and address both symptoms and symptoms, and build a solid national security and people's defense line."

Yan Shuai, Deputy Director of the International Security Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Modern International Relations, believes that after the promulgation of the Anti Espionage Law, legal education is very important. The general public should enhance their awareness of anti espionage confidentiality, and the fight against espionage is not just a matter of specialized agencies and special functional departments. It is important to realize that foreign espionage agencies are omnipotent in their pursuit and invasion of our national security interests. Their intelligence gathering tentacles may extend to every dimension, level, and corner of our national economy and social life.

Xia Zhenglin pointed out that as ordinary people, we should not only abide by laws and regulations, not be accomplices of spies, not be used by malicious people, but also be vigilant and keep our eyes open. Once suspicious situations that endanger national security are discovered, we should promptly call the national security agency's hotline 12339 for reporting. Establishing a strong sense of anti espionage can surely form a strong joint force to safeguard national security.

Author | Li Shuai, Editor in Chief of Shenzhen TV's "Decisive High Ground"