Observers said the purpose of the regime’s spy-catching propaganda is to shift focus away from its current internal political and economic crises.
The Chinese communist regime’s Ministry of State Security has listed five types of foreign “spies” and urged the Chinese public to point them out and report them to authorities.
Analysts said the regime’s move is aimed at shifting public focus away from China’s political and economic crises.
The ministry published an article titled “Exposing the Many Faces of Spies” on its official WeChat account on May 25, listing five types of identities that it says foreign spies could use. The article has been reposted by major Chinese media outlets.
The five types include “detectives who don’t investigate, scholars who don’t research, businessmen who don’t do business, tourists who don’t sightsee, and lovers who don’t care,” according to the ministry.
The ministry defines the “detectives who don’t investigate” as “those foreign spies who use detective companies and consulting companies as cover” to seek out sensitive information in high-tech fields and military facilities “under the pretext of verifying information and providing paid consultation.”
In recent years, the regime has already cited its expanded anti-espionage law to shut down foreign auditing firms’ offices in China and arrest their employees, both foreign and Chinese, as well as detain foreign investigators working in China.
The ministry described the “scholars who don’t research” as those who frequently visit Chinese universities and research institutes “under the banner of academic exchanges and scientific research cooperation” to collect sensitive information and core technology.
The “businessmen who don’t do business” refers to “foreign spies pretending to be influential businessmen, using the guise of investment and cooperation, and using money and emotional seduction to carry out defection,” according to the ministry.
The “tourists who don’t sightsee” refers to those “foreign agents who enter China under the guise of sightseeing, visiting relatives and friends, and conduct surveying and on-site search activities near military facilities and sensitive areas on their own or by inducing Chinese personnel.”
As to the “lovers who don’t care,” the ministry said that foreign spies approach Chinese students studying abroad and develop romantic relationships with them or use online dating to turn them.
By Alex Wu
