This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now licensed for reprint.
Commentators said the phrase “alerts to people to be careful what they say and not go on information that hasn’t been publicly released” has been used by China’s spy agency to warn citizens about “endangering federal security” over the holiday season.
The Ministry of State Security stated in a Jan. 28 post to its official Twitter account that “censors that harm national security may enter our lives unexpected.” On that day, most people would gather up at their family home to eat a meal and welcome the Year of the Snake.
The much-feared Ministry has been , cranking up propaganda , warning of , foreign” scouts” in recent months, in a bid to get more people to , tell on each other , and steer clear of anyone linked to the West.
The article urged people to “enjoy the New Year as usual,” but to be wary of “ulterior intentions to spy and seize state secrets,” especially when coming to meetings and making appointments.
” Don’t let your guard down when it comes to safety and confidentiality”, the recognize warned. The government is advised to avoid of individuals using other common exchanges and interactions to obtain state secrets through the exchange of news and other exchanges and interactions.
” We must be on the lookout for international spy agencies that knowingly gather and smuggle secrets both online and through covert infiltration,” it said.
Gao Guangjun, a lawyer based in the United States, claimed that these notices have become popular over the holiday season in recent years and that they have coincided with China’s growing isolation from the worldwide community.
He claimed that such notices often identify a” state secret,” allowing the authorities to “enforce the law at will.”
What’s a express solution?
The Taiwanese authorities have generally employed a very elastic definition of what constitutes a state secret, and , nationwide security charges , are usually leveled at , journalists,  , rights lawyers , and , activists, usually based on material they post online.
Article 14 of China’s Rules on Safeguarding State Secrets, which was amended last month, divides position secrets into three categories: best solution, private and surprise.
According to Article 15, which information falls under which category is up to the authorities to decide.
Anyone sharing information the government doesn’t like is easy to pin on because of their lack of definition, Gao said.
The Ministry also called on people to “avoid military restricted zones, confidential scientific research institutions, communications bases and key power facilities” when going out to have fun.
Additionally, it urged users of social media to be cautious with their online statements.
” Beware of spy agencies stealing state secrets and information from social media comment areas,” it warned.
U. S. based political scientist Wang Juntao said the notice was “absurd”.
He compared the Chinese Communist Party’s obsession with security to “it’s getting more and more ridiculous and outrageous.”
He claimed that the authorities are concerned because people typically gather and exchange news over the Lunar New Year holiday, which could cause unrest in their eyes.
Around Spring Festival, there are significant movements of the population, with many returning to their families ‘ homes, Wang said.
” As the migrant workers go back home, they’ll take with them news of everything they saw and heard in Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places”, he said. So the authorities will want to restrict people’s thoughts and speech at this point.
They “don’t want people to start saying things that are contrary to the government’s policy.”
Meanwhile, China’s Cyberspace Administration named and shamed a number of “illegal and irregular” online news and information service providers in a Jan. 19 announcement, according several organizations of peddling “fake news”.
The notice stated that websites like the China International News Network, Heilongjiang Online, Huaxia Morning News on Netease, and Xinxi Xinbao, who” compiled and published false and untrue information and deceived the public,” were all accused of doing so.
Others had run news operations without a license, and “illegally recruited reporters”, and carried out reporting and publishing of” so-called” news, it said.
The agency said the “rectification” campaign would continue in 2025.
