Chinese security ministry attacks ‘selfish, hegemonic and disingenuous’ US over criticism of anti-spying law

The ministry posts a rare commentary directly attacking Washington as it continues efforts to defend new legislation that expands definition of spying
Social media post accuses the US of double standards and trying to use the ‘China threat’ to smooth over internal political divisions

US-China relations

Jack Lau

Published: 5:41pm, 14 Aug 2023

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China’s counter-intelligence ministry has defended a new anti-spying law in a rare commentary that directly singles out the United States for criticism.

“The US often uses national security to hype up the China threat,” the Ministry of State Security said in a post published on Monday on the social media platform WeChat.

“Recently, it again attacked the newly amended Counter-Espionage Law, distorting the truth and making up claims that China threatened the national security of the United States. This fully shows the selfish, hegemonic and disingenuous core of US national security.”

It also accused the US of double standards using a Chinese idiom that says: “Only the powerful can do what they like, but the common people are not allowed the slightest bit of freedom.”

The ministry has been on a publicity offensive to defend the new law, which took effect in July. It updates previous legislation that came into force in 2014 and expands the definition of spying to include cyberattacks against state agencies as well as vaguely defined bodies “involved with secrets”.

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The broad scope of the law also covers material that is not strictly classified and covers the unauthorised use of documents, data and information “related to national security and interests”, as well as broadening the investigative powers of law enforcement agencies.

The post was also published at a time when both Washington and Beijing ramp up their anti-espionage efforts against each other.

The WeChat commentary singled out the US and said it was using the “China threat” to try to unify the Republican and Democratic parties as domestic politics becomes more polarised.

“This kind of superficial work will only speed up the development of the unprecedented global changes not seen in a hundred years,” the ministry continued, using one of the Chinese government’s favoured terms for the country’s rise and the West’s response.

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“It cannot stop the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation or lead to real national security in the United States.”

It also accused Washington of promoting “America first” national security policies, citing its pervasive Prism surveillance programme, wars and arms sales.

The US National Security Agency programme collected communication data from US internet firms such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft and came to light after Edward Snowden, a former subcontractor for the agency, leaked classified documents.

The ministry opened its first social media account on WeChat in July. Its first post called on everyday Chinese to fight against spies in the country as part of its campaign to promote the new anti-espionage law.

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It has also been more aggressive in its communications since the law took effect. On Friday, the ministry explicitly named the CIA when it announced that it had arrested an employee of a defence company in China on suspicion of spying for the US. Previously, the ministry would have only used terms such as a “certain country” or “foreign agents”.

The US embassy in Beijing has been contacted for comment.