China spy agency lashes out at ‘ill-intentioned foreign forces’ that conflate espionage with business

Ministry of State Security seeks to quell accusations that China’s anti-spying law has worsened economic decoupling and the operating environment for foreign firms

Rebuttal comes as foreign business community has raised concerns about the revised spying law following a series of raids of foreign consultancy firms

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Foreign firms and investors in China have increasingly voiced concerns over policy ambiguity as they struggle to figure out where the red lines have been drawn. Photo: AP

Published: 10:30pm, 6 Dec 2023Updated: 11:02pm, 6 Dec 2023

China’s top spy agency has once again hit back at criticism of anti-espionage and state-secret laws, in an effort to assuage rising concerns among foreign investors about the nation’s increasingly opaque business environment.

The claim that the anti-espionage law worsens the business environment and has a chilling effect on foreign investment in China is “a fallacy”, while the law is designed to “further clarify the boundaries between legal and illegal, reduce uncertainties and assist businesses in operating more effectively in accordance with the law,” China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) said on its official WeChat account on Wednesday.

“Some ill-intentioned foreign forces are fanning the flames and smearing China by accusing it of generalising national security and creating an atmosphere where normal business activities in China could be labelled ‘spy behaviour’,” the security agency said.

It explicitly called out the United States for using the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 to “suppress international competitors” and “concoct dozens of so-called Chinese economic espionage cases” – similar to allegations that Washington is making of Beijing now.

It is clearly an intentional effort to mislead and create confusion to conflate state secrets with trade secrets

Ministry of State Security

And the MSS said any suggestions that China’s anti-espionage law has led to an acceleration in economic decoupling equate to standing the facts on their head.

The rebuttal came as the foreign business community has repeatedly raised concerns about China’s recently revised anti-espionage law, as well as a series of raids of foreign consultancy firms earlier this year.

Foreign firms have also flagged a lack of transparency in regulations concerning portfolio investments, cross-border data transfers and intellectual property protection.