New Harsh Pentalties for Espionage About to Be Added to New Chinese Security Law

Alice Yan

August 26, 2014

Spy challenges prompt China security law revamp

Minister of State Security Geng Huichang said counter-espionage agencies faced new challenges and needed stronger legislative support.. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The mainland has proposed strengthening its national security law and changing its name to the counter-espionage law to better cope with new security challenges the country faces, a meeting of the top legislative body the National People’s Congress (NPC) heard yesterday, according to state media reports.

Minister of State Security Geng Huichang told the NPC Standing Committee the proposed law would be based on the existing national security law but include recent experiences in counter-espionage, according to China Central Television.

Geng said counter-espionage agencies faced new challenges and needed stronger legislative support.

"Our general considerations are: the new law … must make counter-espionage work prominent; it summarises previous anti-espionage experiences and turns the measures that have proved effective … into regulations," he was quoted by cri.cnas saying.

The proposal comes against a backdrop of tensions between China and the US and some other countries over hacking and cyberespionage.

The US has indicted five Chinese military officials for industrial spying, while China has complained about US spying activities revealed by whistle-blower Edward Snowden. Earlier this month, China detained two Canadians on suspicion of spying.

The proposed law stipulates punishments for foreign entities or individuals spying in China and domestic entities that spy on behalf of foreign organisations and individuals, state media reported. It would also give security agencies the right to inspect and examine, after approval, any government departments with potential risks.

The existing national security law came into effect in 1993 and has never been revised. At yesterday’s meetings, legislators also heard revisions to the Budget Law, Work Safety Law, Insurance Law and Advertisement Law.

Reports on plans for the State Council’s proposal for a commemoration day for martyrs and for the opening of intellectual property law courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as proposed by the Supreme People’s Court, were also delivered at the meeting.