China offers $15,000 cash or ‘spiritual reward’ to whistleblowers who help safeguard its national security

China’s espionage is a matter of national security 1:52 Hong Kong (CNN) — China is offering its citizens cash rewards of up to 100,000 yuan (about $15,000) for providing information on individuals who endanger national security, to as authorities intensify a years-long campaign to eliminate what they see as a growing threat from foreign espionage and “hostile forces.” Successful informants can receive “spiritual rewards” in the form of certificates or “material rewards” in cash, according to regulations released Monday by the Ministry of State Security. The cash rewards are classified into four levels based on the value of the information, ranging from less than 10,000 yuan ($1,500) to more than 100,000 yuan. The information must be specific to the persons or actions involved, and must be new to the authorities. Reports can be made in person, online, by mail, or through the State Security Hotline. For years, Chinese authorities have encouraged the public to report foreign spies and their Chinese collaborators through propaganda campaigns and incentives, efforts that have been accelerated under the leadership of Xi Jinping. “We must ensure that national security is everything to the people and everything for the people, mobilizing the efforts of the entire Communist Party and the entire society to gather powerful forces to safeguard national security,” Xi told officials in 2016. In 2017, the Beijing municipal government began offering rewards of up to half a million yuan ($75,000) to anyone who helped unmask a spy. Within a year, authorities had received nearly 5,000 reports and handed out bounties to informants ranging from scientific researchers to taxi drivers, according to the state-run Beijing News. The new measures are intended to standardize such rewards and motivate the public, a representative from the Ministry of State Security told the state-run Legal Daily newspaper. “The formulation of the measures helps to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the general public to support and assist in national security work, and widely gather the hearts, morals, wisdom and strength of the people,” said the Ministry representative. . The ruling also comes at a time when state officials and media are pushing the narrative that China is under serious and constant threat from “hostile foreign forces,” which are allegedly trying to infiltrate and undermine the country in every possible way. possible ways. “China’s national security is facing a serious and complex situation. In particular, foreign intelligence agencies and hostile forces have significantly intensified their infiltration and espionage activities with more diverse means and target wider areas, which means a serious threat to China’s national security,” the ministry representative said. China’s growing wariness of foreign influences stems in part from its growing geopolitical rivalry with the West, especially the United States, as the country becomes more authoritarian at home and more assertive abroad under Xi. Xi’s efforts to bolster national security began a year after he came to power. In November 2013, he created a powerful National Security Commission, headed by himself, to lead the effort and better coordinate the wings of the country’s security bureaucracy. In 2015, China passed a comprehensive national security law covering a wide variety of areas including: defense, politics, economy, environment, technology, cyberspace, outer space, culture, ideology, and religion. He also created a national hotline for citizens to report espionage suspects. On April 15, 2016, the country celebrated its first National Security Education Day with a spate of propaganda, including a comic-book-style poster displayed throughout Beijing warning young female officers not to go outside. with handsome foreigners, so they wouldn’t fall in love with a possible James Bond. And for the country’s second National Security Education Day, an online publisher published books for students to learn how to safeguard national security, complete with games like “find the spy.” The Global Times, a state-run nationalist tabloid, said the books were part of an effort to mobilize students, from elementary schools to universities, as “a great counterintelligence force.” Around the same time, an unofficial notice circulated widely on social media, listing ways to spot a potential spy. Foreign correspondents, missionaries and NGO staff were among those identified as likely suspects. There were also people “with vague jobs, multiple degrees, and lots of money,” those who have “studyed abroad in many countries,” and “people who regularly go somewhere to meet other people.” But these campaigns have not only raised suspicions about foreigners living in China. They have also been used to attack government critics, social activists, lawyers, journalists, feminists and other critical members of the public, especially given the extremely broad and vague definition of “national security”. On social media, liberal commentators are often accused by nationalists of being traitors to their country and labeled “walking 500k,” meaning they work for foreign spies and are worth a cash reward if exposed. Their accounts are frequently attacked by nationalist trolls and reported to censors, and subsequently removed from the platforms. Foreign forces and their Chinese collaborators are increasingly to blame for a host of social problems, from shoddy illustrations in primary school textbooks to mounting criticism against the country’s “zero covid” policy. Following the publication of the new regulations, some Chinese social media users joked that Chinese “traitors” have depreciated from the 500,000 yuan offered in 2017 to 100,000 yuan because there are simply too many of them today.