“As ordinary citizens, what should you do once you discover espionage?” It may look like words from a dystopian novel or movie, but in fact, these are the words of China’s Ministry of State Security. The ministry has called on every citizen of the country to join the fight against espionage and report any suspicious activity to the government hotline. This plan to turn every citizen into a spy is not shocking for Western countries, but it still is a major concern as China is one of the biggest trade partners of these countries.
The Ministry responsible for Foreign intelligence and espionage joined the regulated social media platform WeChat to announce this plan to establish a system that also rewards citizens for helping in counter espionage. China has pushed the narrative that it is facing a security threat due to foreign spies. This has also resulted in a new counter espionage law being implemented in July. Now the government wants citizens to report on suspicious foreigners and their Chinese associates.
The terms of the law are ambiguous, and foreign companies working in China are worried that their regular business could also be seen as an act of spying under this law. There are concerns that citizens who are not trained to detect espionage might not be able to differentiate between regular business conduct and espionage, which could be extremely dangerous for foreigners working in China.
