The ministry added that an espionage indictment is not based on whether the culprit accepts money, nor if their actions have caused real harm to national security.
Quoting China’s criminal law, the ministry pointed out that espionage activity – which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment – is not limited to collecting and providing state secrets and intelligence.
Espionage includes introducing or helping to recruit for spy organisations and their agents, as well as accepting instructions to carry out infiltration, subversion and sabotage activities, or lurking as an internal force for a long time, it said.
In its WeChat post, the ministry also said it had uncovered and punished many espionage crimes in recent years involving Chinese citizens accepting tasks from spy organisations and their agents.
Among them was a case involving a civil servant surnamed Liu, who was charged with espionage despite leaking no state secrets.
According to the ministry, Liu was enticed by a foreign spy disguised as a researcher from an overseas consultancy firm and persuaded to provide information from the government agency where he worked.
Liu eventually learned the spy’s true identity and was asked to continue collecting confidential information. Although terrified, he accepted spy training and continued to pass on documents without reporting to the national security agency, it said.
While its investigation showed Liu did not leak any state secrets, the ministry said he still faced espionage charges because he had known the other party’s true identity and received tens of thousands of yuan in funds.
The latest warning comes less than a week after the party’s third plenum, which vowed to modernise China’s national security system and capabilities, as well as boost science and technology development, in the face of escalating tensions with the West.
The party’s leadership pledged to improve China’s national security system, strengthen the coordination of national security agencies, and improve security in key areas and important projects.
The party will also strengthen “foreign-related national security mechanisms”, including better coordination of security surrounding China, strengthen early security warning systems, and improve China’s capability to counter sanctions, interference, and “long-arm jurisdiction” from the West.
