Sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage in China: the American John Shing-Wan Leung. © Twitter/Screenshot
China has tightened its law against espionage. From July, the disclosure of documents or data on "national security" will be prohibited. The wording is deliberately vague, many companies are nervous.
Beijing/Munich – A 78-year-old American was sentenced to life imprisonment in China on Monday for espionage. This was announced by a court in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. However, there were no details about what the authorities accuse John Shing-Wan Leung of in the first place. Leung, who has a U.S. passport as well as a permanent resident of Hong Kong, had already been arrested in April 2021. Now his assets in China, the equivalent of about 66,000 euros, have also been confiscated. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing confirmed the conviction, but also gave no details. "The State Department has no greater priority than the safety of U.S. citizens abroad. For data protection reasons, however, we do not make any further comment," said a spokesman for the US broadcaster CNN.
The case comes at a time when there is growing unrest among foreigners in China due to geopolitical tensions and the tightening of China's espionage law. At the end of April, Beijing amended the espionage law to protect not only state secrets, but also very vaguely defined "national interests". The new version will come into force in July and will massively expand the powers of state security. Thus, the law will make it much easier for the authorities to carry out raids and arrests without a court order.
China's Espionage Law: Foreign Companies Fear More Arbitrariness
The fact that Beijing is serious is shown by an anti-espionage campaign against international consulting firms in recent weeks. Thus, in a coordinated operation, investigators in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou and other cities examined the offices of international firms. Investigators also seized several laptops and smartphones in April, for example at the US management consultancyBain in Shanghai. Bain said it would cooperate with the authorities.
The fact that an anti-espionage campaign is apparently being ramped up even before the official entry into force of the new version of the law worries companies from abroad all the more. In March, a Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma was arrested in Beijing on suspicion of espionage. Japan has since demanded the man's release. Also in March, authorities closed the Beijing office of the U.S.-based Mintz Group and arrested all five employees. The Mintz Group verifies compliance with legal requirements for company sales and IPOs. "The arrests and raids make a lot of people nervous," said a manager in Shanghai who asked not to be named.
China's New Law: Expanding the Definition of Espionage
Especially since the Espionage Act, which was originally enacted in 2014, also greatly expands the criminal offences due to the amendments that have now been adopted. Originally, it had defined espionage, as is customary internationally, as the illegal disclosure of state secrets. From July, the purchase or illegal provision of "documents, data, materials or objects related to national security" will suddenly also be included, as the Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia reports, citing the text of the law.
Furthermore, the law is directed against cyber attacks on government agencies or critical infrastructures by "espionage organizations and their agents". The authorities can ban Chinese citizens from leaving the country and prohibit foreign nationals from entering the country if they are suspected of endangering national security. The vague wording deliberately leaves open who could be an agent or pose a threat to national security.
"It is becoming increasingly important for foreign companies to be aware of what types of information they collect in China and, more importantly, how they collect it," warns Chinese business magazine Caixin. Companies, on the other hand, are puzzling: Is due diligence, the internationally customary process of scrutinizing potential Chinese business partners, already considered espionage? Or even market research, for example in the tech sector? In the past, foreign journalists or their Chinese employees have also been accused of passing on state secrets. Concern is also likely to grow among correspondents.
China: Citizens should monitor each other
At the same time, the law requires citizens to report all acts of espionage to the authorities. From July, transport and telecommunications companies will be obliged to provide technical support for anti-espionage measures, such as cameras. Above all, it is these elements that could restore denunciation and surveillance on a scale not seen since the end of the era of Mao Zedong. People stationed in or traveling to China "need to be aware that they are under constant surveillance," Hiroki Seto of crisis management consultancy Sompo Risk Management in Tokyo told Nikkei Asia.
0
Also Read
Turkey election: run-off election looms - first reactions to Erdogan from Germany
READ
Situation "unacceptable" for shipping company: Russia seizes Danish ships of the Maersk group
READ
Fraud allegation: Philipp Amthor faces million-dollar lawsuit
READ
Bremen election 2023: SPD can rejoice - clap for the Greens, BiW almost double-digit
READ
Estonia's president warns against the use of nuclear weapons by a "desperate Putin"
READ
Fancy a voyage of discovery?
My Area
Conversely, against the backdrop of tense relations, the United States has also increasingly taken action against the Chinese in recent years over espionage allegations. Among other things, there were investigations against academics of Chinese origin. But even port cranes from the Chinese manufacturer ZPMC came under suspicion of espionage in the USA: US security officials expressed the suspicion in March that the sensors used by the cranes were able to register and track the origin and destinations of containers. After all, in recent weeks, the US and China have approached each other a little; there have been several high-level meetings. One topic is espionage.
