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Liu Zhen

China has stepped up the protection of its military-industrial facilities from espionage and sabotage with new rules issued on Monday.
The Regulation on the Protection of Important Military Industrial Facilities highlights the importance Beijing attaches to its defence industrial bases amid increased global and regional tension.
Facilities engaged in the research, production, testing and storage of important weapons and equipment for national defence research, and production enterprises and institutions will be deemed “protected areas”.
The designation is intended to guarantee their safety, secrecy and functioning, according to the regulation, which takes effect from September 15.


It says any act of disrupting, jeopardising or endangering important military industrial facilities, or spying on them, will be punishable by law.
“We must adhere to active prevention, take both internal and external factors into consideration and conduct comprehensive and coordinated measures to ensure the safety of important military industrial facilities,” it said.
“Organisations and citizens of the People’s Republic of China have the obligation to protect important military facilities.”
It said that while the government and relevant departments would be responsible for protecting the facilities, all citizens were encouraged to take part – and any person or organisation reporting sabotage would be rewarded by the state.
The regulation was jointly issued by the State Council, China’s central government, and the Central Military Mission (CMC), the top military decision-making body.
The Ministry of State Security has in recent years warned military enthusiasts not to post photos online of sensitive military equipment, which it said could reveal technical details of assets and be used by hostile foreign forces.
In a rare revelation in December 2023, the counter-espionage agency said it had detected a foreign company trying to gather intelligence from a navy base in an unidentified coastal city.
In January, state media said the ministry had caught a foreign spy trying to take photos of military facilities off the country’s coast.
The new facilities regulation covers the management of institutions, research and development, production and assembly, repair and maintenance locations and testing and experiment grounds.
It includes warehouses for finished products and major dangerous materials, archives, communication and data centres and observation and navigation stations, among others to be decided by the State Council and the CMC, according to the regulation.
Among the transport related facilities covered are dedicated ports, docks, airports, railway lines and roads.
The regulation aimed to protect Chinese facilities from spying, cyber and data crimes and terrorism, it said.


To detect and deny intruders, China will install defensive measures, such as walls and fences, and set up boundary markers to enclose the designated protected areas with guard posts and other measures.
Unauthorised entry into the forbidden zones or staying in the surrounding areas while harming the safety and performance of the facilities would be punished, it said.
In addition, photographing, filming, recording, depicting and describing, as well as surveying, measuring and locating the restricted areas was strictly prohibited.
Even the airspace and the radio and electromagnetic environment of the relevant facilities were subject to the regulation’s protection, and any disruption to flight safety or military radio devices would be punished.


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China

Military

Facilities for research, production, testing and storage of important weapons and equipment deemed ‘protected areas’


Facilities for research, production, testing and storage of important weapons and equipment deemed ‘protected areas’.


China introduces rules to protect military-industrial assets from spies and sabotage

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Facilities for research, production, testing and storage of important weapons and equipment deemed ‘protected areas’

Facilities for research, production, testing and storage of important weapons and equipment deemed ‘protected areas’