China’s revised state secrets law may continue to severely damage China’s economy

According to the latest official news from China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of State Secrets passed its second revision on Tuesday. The new revision emphasizes the party’s leadership over confidentiality work and further generalizes the concept of national security. The outside world generally believes that this move will increase the risks of foreign businesses operating in China and continue to severely damage China's sluggish economy. 

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China passed the amendment to the "Law on the Protection of State Secrets" to add provisions on confidentiality of resignation and work secrets

China's Ministry of State Security warns of ten situations in which "please drink tea"

Second revision of the Secrecy Law passed to strengthen party leadership

According to news released by the Xinhua News Agency, the Communist Party of China’s party media, the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets” (hereinafter referred to as the Secrecy Law) has been adopted by the 8th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress on Tuesday (February 27) Amendment passed. Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the Presidential Order of the People's Republic of China No. 20 and announced it, and the revised law will come into effect on May 1.

This is the second revision of the confidentiality law, and the first revision was in 2010. This revision further clarifies the strengthening of the party's leadership over confidentiality work from the legal system.

According to the general principles, “secrecy work adheres to the overall national security concept, follows the party’s management of confidentiality, management in accordance with the law, active prevention, highlighting key points, equal emphasis on technology and management, and the principles of innovative development, which not only ensures the security of national secrets, but also facilitates the rational use of information resources.”

According to an official release from the Chinese government, Li Zhaozong, director of the Central Security Office and director of the National Security Bureau, explained the revision at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. He emphasized that it is necessary to build a more complete national secret management system to promptly discover and eliminate leakage risks and hazards, so that "wherever the national security field is expanded, confidentiality work will be covered."

Li Hengqing, an economist at the Institute of Information and Strategic Studies, an American private organization, said in an interview with this station that the revision of the secrecy law is to ensure the security of the CCP and Xi Jinping in power, which is the core of national security.

He said: "Everything is for the stability of the regime. Xi Jinping once said, 'What is the use of economic development if the stability of the regime is absent?' He does not admit that it is at the expense of giving up economic development, but in fact he They don’t really care about the people’s livelihood or the economic development of this country.”

Revised Xintian Technology confidentiality and network confidentiality terms

It is worth noting that the newly revised Secrecy Law has new provisions to support secrecy technological innovation, improve secrecy technology protection system measures, and standardize the management of security and secrecy products and secrecy technology equipment used to protect state secrets.

This revised confidentiality law also further improves the network information confidentiality management system. Network operators are required to cooperate with relevant departments in investigating and handling cases suspected of leaking state secrets in accordance with this law. They are also required to promptly handle and report suspected cases of using the Internet to leak state secrets. .

Xia Ming, a professor of politics at the City University of New York, told this station that the revised confidentiality law only emphasizes the party’s leadership and avoids supervision of the party’s work.

He said: "Obviously China's secrecy law is aimed at ordinary people, small people spying on state secrets, or foreigners in China to spy on secrets, etc. It does not target our own country's leaders and state workers. Of course, the secrecy law also mentions work secrets, but In the past ten or twenty years, which piece of Reuters news was not released by the top leaders of the CCP themselves?”

The revised terms also clearly stipulate "work secrets". According to Article 64 of the Law, “agencies and units shall apply the work secret management measures to take necessary protective measures for matters that are generated or obtained in the course of performing their functions and are not state secrets but will cause certain adverse effects if leaked. Work secrets Management measures will be separately stipulated." In addition, the departure of confidential personnel must be approved by relevant departments; during the declassification period, confidential personnel are not allowed to leave the country in violation of regulations.

Legislation to tighten national security controls may increase risks for foreign businesses in China

The "Counterespionage Law" was revised and the "National Security Law" was introduced. In recent years, the Chinese authorities have frequently strengthened the review and control of the entire country through legislative channels.

Xia Ming pointed out that this revision was produced under the background that the Chinese authorities are only allowed to "sing the economic light theory". Strengthening confidentiality and information disclosure, especially economic-related information, are bound to be contradictory.

He said: "For every company that invests in China, the first thing to do is conduct market research on China. All kinds of data are confidential to China because it involves political security. If there is any real economic data it (the Chinese Communist Party) They all believe that people can interpret information that is detrimental to their political system and regime from specific and small fluctuations, so everything becomes a confidentiality area."

The US media "Wall Street Journal" warned that this revision is the latest sign that the Chinese government has become more vigilant about potential national security threats. The Chinese authorities have adopted laws to tighten regulations related to national security, which may increase the risks for foreign companies operating in China.

Li Hengqing analyzed: "Everyone is definitely in a state of chill now. The more it (the CCP) does this, the more foreign businessmen and entrepreneurs who invest in China will be discouraged from China. As the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has unanimously said to the outside world, expand opening up and create a good business environment. The environment and special preferential policies for foreign investment are completely in the opposite direction.”