In recent times, the Chinese Communist Party’s state security apparatus has been expanding its involvement in various sectors such as economy, diplomacy, and finance. The previously covert “hidden front” has now become more overt and high-profile, exposing not only the internal secrets of the Communist Leninist organization but also revealing that the current crisis within the CCP is reaching an undeniable point.
On April 15th, which is the national security education day in China, the CCP’s state security department released a three-minute video through its WeChat account, sending a stern message to the Chinese people: foreign spies are everywhere.
In the video, a man disguised as a “street snap master,” “technology expert,” “business elite,” and “food delivery guy” is seen gathering various sensitive “national secrets” by blending into the crowd, as the narrator says, “hidden among the people, they can disguise themselves as anyone.” The video emphasizes the need for the 1.4 billion people to act as a defense line against spies.
This is not the first time the Chinese state security department has issued such a slogan. A year ago, in August, when the state security department opened its official WeChat account, the first post called for the public to report spies and offered rewards to informants.
So far, the state security department’s WeChat account has published over two hundred posts, and this year it has increased its multimedia efforts with comics, videos, animations, documentaries, etc. In January, the first episode of a comic series called “Mystery Detective Team” was launched, where Chinese security personnel discovered suspicious individuals conducting mapping activities disguised as real estate developers in the remote “West Mountain” area, even extracting ore samples.
On April 15th this year, the state security department released the “Top Ten Anti-Spy Cases,” with the top case involving Li Hengli (Li Huxiang) charged with “spy crimes” for providing financial support to Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters in 2019. The video was filled with typical forced confession styles aimed at humiliating and tarnishing the reputation of the targets. It also briefly mentioned Canadian victims of what is widely believed to be “hostage diplomacy,” Michael Kovrig, and Michael Spavor, without providing details of their “spy activities.”
American-Hong Kong citizen Leung Sing-wan was accused of engaging in espionage activities for the United States over the past thirty years and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The video also revealed the sentencing of Chinese citizen Huang Yu for espionage in 2016. Other cases included Taiwanese researcher Zheng Yuqin, Canadian couple Wang Pihong and Zhao Ruqin, who were arrested during a visit to China in 2017.
Critics commented that the quality of the film was mediocre, relying heavily on stock images, poorly staged scenes, and inciting propaganda with scenes of prisoners in shackles or patriotic flag-waving.
The State Security Department of the CCP, which has always been low-key, now intensified its presence in social media, which is somewhat unusual. One of the apparent reasons for this change could be related to the appointment of Chen Yixin as the head of the National Security Commission at the end of 2022. Chen Yixin served as Xi Jinping’s deputy secretary and director of the policy research office in Zhejiang province during Xi’s time as the party secretary, being Xi’s close advisor who prefers using social media to convey official information.
During his tenure as the Secretary-General of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission in September 2018, Chen Yixin openly encouraged political and legal officials, police officers, and propagandists to open their own social media accounts and take on the responsibility of being “pen soldiers,” actively addressing the party’s concerns.
Since Xi Jinping took office, this once-hidden spy agency has significantly boosted its public image and broadened its scope of authority, with posters and slogans promoting national security becoming visible in Chinese cities on sidewalks, subways, campuses, and billboards.
In 2017, the Beijing municipal government started offering rewards of up to 500,000 RMB to anyone assisting in uncovering spies.
In January 2021, the State Security Department answered questions from the Legal Daily, mentioning the nature of the department as inheriting the “red genes” of the party’s secretive front and being “absolutely loyal to the party” as the “red team.” Later that year, Chubotang, the Deputy Secretary of the National Security Department and Deputy Director of the Propaganda and Education Bureau, made a rare appearance on the national news broadcast.
This propaganda reinforces the impression that any interaction between Chinese and foreign individuals is subject to government suspicion, as the CCP’s State Security Department is working hard to instill a sense of terror about spies in the minds of the youth, fostering mistrust and disrupting normal social life, causing strong resentment.
On April 24th in Shanghai, several men wearing the same blue T-shirts were stopped by security guards while jogging, claiming they were engaged in a “coordinated activity.” The security explained that beyond a certain number of people wearing the same clothing, it was not allowed, citing regulations in the Huangpu district, including the Bund.
Recently, a female political video blogger in the United States, “77Baba TALK,” was harassed by mainland Chinese state security for commenting on Xi Jinping. The blogger expressed disbelief at being targeted despite her small channel with only fifty thousand followers.
Wang Juntao, the Chairman of the National Committee of the China Democracy Party who has long been concerned about the Chinese political situation, told Epoch Times that it primarily stems from Xi Jinping’s unpopular autocratic actions, which cannot be openly denounced, hence prompting the search for foreign spies as a scapegoat to suppress various dissidents such as the crackdown on the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement.
Yao Yuan, an international studies professor at St. Thomas University in the United States, told Epoch Times that this is likely due to the CCP’s perception that public confidence in the regime is declining. While previous national security incidents were kept covert, the current state of affairs is in a semi-visible or open state, indicating that the Chinese people’s support for the Communist Party is not strong. The CCP leverages this to enhance intimidation tactics against the public.
Shen Mingshi, a researcher and director at the Taiwan Institute for National Defense Security, mentioned that due to Xi Jinping’s insecurities, he anticipates opposition from the people, political rivals, and foreign forces, necessitating the State Security Department to gather relevant intelligence based on his demands. This increased reliance reinforces the department’s importance, making it more high-profile in its operations.
Shen Mingshi stated that the State Security Department’s emphasis on urging the public to report spies and the party’s praise for the Fengqiao Experience are closely related. Shen Mingshi further explained that this approach instills fear and suspicion among the public, blurring the lines of trust and hindering society’s cohesion.
In April, Western countries suddenly launched a counterattack against the CCP’s overseas espionage activities, reflecting growing concerns about the CCP’s expanding influence through espionage.
At the beginning of April, Sweden expelled a Chinese female journalist with a long-term residence permit, accusing her of posing a severe threat to national security.
On April 22, a British parliamentary researcher and another man were charged with espionage by British law enforcement for allegedly engaging in espionage activities for the Chinese Communist regime.
On April 23, the German Federal Prosecutors announced the arrest of a German parliament assistant on suspicion of engaging in espionage for the Chinese intelligence agency, passing European Parliament decision-making information to China, and assisting in monitoring anti-Communist individuals in Germany.
Recently, the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) openly stated that the CCP’s espionage activities were becoming increasingly rampant, posing a growing threat to national security.
Shen Mingshi noted that while Western countries were aware of the CCP’s infiltration, the timing of the arrests was strategic. Shen shared that the objective of Western nations is to counteract the CCP’s infiltration and intelligence gathering efforts through both active and passive counterintelligence measures, which have been raised considering the diligence of intelligence operatives against the CCP’s activities.
Yao Yuan expressed that these espionage cases conducted by the CCP in Europe and the US did not begin just a few years ago but could date back to the 1990s. Previously, there was some leniency towards the CCP’s activities, but now that relations have soured, Western nations are less forgiving and are actively prosecuting these cases.
In conclusion, the Chinese Communist Party’s State Security Department is expanding its powers both domestically and internationally, becoming increasingly high-profile, while Western nations are taking decisive action against the CCP’s espionage activities abroad. This shift in dynamics highlights growing tensions and conflict between the CCP and Western countries, with espionage becoming a crucial battleground in their struggle for influence and power.