Lack of national security harm no defence against China spy charges: ministry
- Top anti-espionage agency warns that spying indictments are not based on whether the activity caused real harm or if money changed hands
On its official WeChat account, the Ministry of State Security said on Wednesday that espionage is “a crime of action”.
As long as suspects are considered to have knowingly accepted tasks from foreign spying organisations or their agents that may endanger national security and interests, they can be charged with espionage, it said.
The ministry added that an espionage indictment is not based on whether the culprit accepts money, nor if their actions have caused real harm to national security.
Quoting China’s criminal law, the ministry pointed out that espionage activity – which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment – is not limited to collecting and providing state secrets and intelligence.
Espionage includes introducing or helping to recruit for spy organisations and their agents, as well as accepting instructions to carry out infiltration, subversion and sabotage activities, or lurking as an internal force for a long time, it said.
In its WeChat post, the ministry also said it had uncovered and punished many espionage crimes in recent years involving Chinese citizens accepting tasks from spy organisations and their agents.