Global Courant 2023-04-26 18:36:42
BEIJING — China passed a recently revised anti-intelligence law as President Xi Jinping seeks to bolster national security amid a series of tensions with the United States.
The law was approved at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Wednesday and will take effect on July 1, according to a post on the NPC website.
Mr Xi has used his decade in power to highlight security concerns as friction with the US increased over issues such as Taiwan, Xinjiang’s treatment of minorities and, more recently, China’s tech ambitions.
In a speech to a major Communist Party congress, Mr Xi mentioned “security” more often than “economics” – the first time this had happened in the main policy statement since the party came to power in 1949.
China has also stepped up arrests of foreigners suspected of espionage. In March, China arrested an employee of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma on suspicion of espionage. Since 2015, five Japanese nationals have been found guilty of endangering national security by China, according to the Mainichi newspaper.
Beijing and Washington have been feuding over claims of cybersnooping, with China becoming increasingly forthright in naming US agencies as perpetrators. The US has blamed China for widespread industrial espionage to “loot” US companies, in addition to operations related to national security.
Mr. Zang Tiewei, a spokesperson for the NPC Legislative Affairs Committee, said at a press conference last week that the existing legal definition of espionage activities was “too narrow” and that prevention measures were insufficient.
“The current situation for the fight against espionage is extremely grim as traditional and non-traditional security threats are intertwined,” Mr. Zang said through state media. “Various espionage activities are becoming more complex in more and more areas and the goals more diverse, with more and more disguised measures.”
It is unclear what changes the NPC made to the anti-intelligence law, which dates back to 2014. The official newspaper Legal Daily reported on Tuesday that the definition of espionage activity would be changed to include cyber-attacks targeting state organs and critical information infrastructure.
A draft of the amendment released in December stated that Internet service providers would be required to provide technical support to authorities in countering espionage efforts and report on potential problems.
US intelligence agents gained control of parts of China’s telecommunications network after hacking into a government-funded university, the state-backed Global Times reported in 2022.
The National Security Agency’s cyberwarfare unit gained remote access to telecom operators’ core networks through an email phishing attack at a leading university, the paper said, citing officials. The US has denied the allegations. BLOOMBERG
