China's New Anti-Espionage Law Comes Into Effect, US Warns Companies, People Of Risk

The law will give Beijing more power than ever to punish what it deems threats to national security.

Chinese President Xi Jinping

Source : Getty

A revised law that will expand China's definition of espionage came into force on Saturday. The law will give Beijing more power than ever to punish what it deems threats to national security, as reported by AFP. The United States government, analysts, and lawyers termed the revisions to Beijing's anti-espionage law as vague and said that the revisions will give authorities more leeway in implementing already opaque national security legislation. The revisions were first released for public comment in December 2022. They were formally approved by China's top legislative body in April, AFP reported.

Chinese law already has harsh punishments ranging from life in prison to execution for those involved in alleged espionage. The revisions have come in the face of an already tense environment for foreign businesses in China, following raids on and questioning of staff at due diligence company Mintz Group and consulting giant Bain and Company this year.

Under the revised law, "relying on espionage organisations and their agents" as well as the unauthorised obtaining of "documents, data, materials, and items related to national security and interests" can constitute a spying offence, as reported by AFP. Beijing insists it has the right to "safeguard its national security through legislation" and says it will "uphold the rule of law". The experts have warned that the changes could sweep up those with even tenuous links to organisations accused of spying.

Speaking to AFP, Jeremy Daum, a senior research fellow at Yale's Paul Tsai China Center said, “The new law embodies a "whole-of-society approach to dealing with anything that is a risk to this broad definition of national security".

Daum said the law builds on a broader trend of tightening control since 2014 after President Xi Jinping took power. But its vague definition of espionage and national security gives authorities a wider berth, he added, and will likely have a "chilling effect on Chinese citizens who have contact with foreigners and foreign organisations".

The changes "have raised legitimate concerns about conducting certain routine business activities, which now risk being considered espionage", Craig Allen, President of the US-China Business Council, wrote in a recent blog, as reported by AFP.

"Confidence in China's market will suffer further if the law is applied frequently and without a clear, narrow, and direct link to activities universally recognized as espionage," wrote Allen. Diplomatic officials from several countries have also sounded alarm bells ahead of the legal changes, urging citizens in China to be vigilant.

The US State Department said the law will "greatly expand the scope of what (Beijing) considers espionage activities," as reported by AFP.

Deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Washington would "continue to speak out for human rights and the rule of law issues and promote accountability for (China's) repressive activities, which this, of course, would be one," as quoted by AFP. And the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) warned Friday that the law gives Beijing "expanded legal grounds for accessing and controlling data held by US firms in China".

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