Editorial | Clarification needed as China’s secrets law is being revised
- Foreign businesses in China are concerned about crossing ‘red lines’, so the onus is on the central government to clearly explain the dos and don’ts
Worried foreign investors and companies operating in China are finally learning more about Beijing’s plans to revise the state secrets law, a bid to reaffirm the Communist Party’s control over information security and improve how state secrets are managed.
The move had been widely anticipated and is not unlike efforts afoot in many nations at a time of fast-changing geopolitical realities.
However, Beijing would be wise to quickly define red lines to avoid pushing away international businesspeople who fear making missteps that could land them in trouble.
The sweeping changes are happening as Beijing is locked in an intelligence war with Washington and its allies.
President Xi Jinping earlier this year highlighted China’s “more complex” security concerns, urging officials to prepare for “worst-case and most extreme scenarios”. State Security Minister Chen Yixin has also called for a crackdown on the theft of state secrets.
Top lawmakers in the National People’s Congress had their first reading this week of the draft of what is described as the first major update to the state secrets law since 2010 and only the second revision since its introduction in 1988.