“The State must employ all its counter-espionage efforts in accordance with the law and vigorously suppress any attempt to usurp State secrets,” the Security Minister wrote.
China’s Minister of State Security Chen Yixin recently urged senior Communist Party (CCP) officials to take “strong action” based on “legal tools” following investigations launched against foreign consultants operating in the country.
Chen, a close ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping, said in an article published by an official newspaper of the CCP Central School that the political organization should “take the initiative” and “adopt strong measures” at a time when the country is about to enact an amendment to its Counter-Intelligence Law.
According to Chen, the goal is to “enhance the ability to safeguard state security through the use of legal tools.”
“The state security apparatus should employ all its counterintelligence efforts in accordance with the law and vigorously suppress any attempts to usurp state secrets,” Chen wrote.
Investigations launched in recent months into foreign consultants in China have raised concerns in the industry and among foreign investors and companies.
Chinese police question employees of US consulting firm in Shanghai
In May, police raided the local offices of international consulting firm Capvision, accused of “concealing national security risks” and “transmitting secret information abroad.” US consultancy Bain & Co and due diligence firm Mintz Group were the targets of similar actions.
China amended the Counter-Espionage Law in April, which takes effect on July 1, to include “collaboration with espionage organizations and their agents” under the category of espionage.
The country’s legislative body explained that the reform “adheres to a problem-solving approach” and “broadens” the categories of objects whose usurpation will be qualified as “theft of secrets.”
The reform also adds “documents, data, materials and elements related to national security.”
“This law will adequately broaden the scope of what is considered espionage, with all the material related to national security that must be protected,” announced the official Global Times newspaper, adding that the country “redoubles its efforts” to protect, in a time when “the West, led by the United States, is intensifying its espionage activities in China.”
According to the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, the law could allow authorities to “inspect the facilities and electronic equipment of organizations, as well as the phones and computers of anyone they suspect of espionage.”
Source: Observadora
