China promises ‘reward’ for spotting spies
BEIJING has set up a website in English and Chinese for people to report on “spies”, the latest national security measure to be rolled out by increasingly sensitive Chinese authorities.
Citizens are being asked to report people involved in a range of activities, from bribing officials, instigating riots and even “inciting ethnic separatism”.
The website also lets people inform when foreigners meet individuals who have “endangered state security”.
Chinese dissidents often reach out to foreign governments and media in an attempt to get their voices heard.
Such official language will cause alarm among human rights groups, which have previously expressed concern about security legislation that is couched in general terms and open to wide interpretation.
It is unclear why the website is in both English and Chinese, although the English-speaking expatriate population in China is growing.
A report by Xinhua, the state news agency, said those who contact the website “will be rewarded if the information is true”, although no further details were given by authorities.
Last April, officials in Beijing offered rewards of between 10,000 yuan (£1,100) and 500,000 yuan (£55,600) for information on spies.
Communist China takes an extremely strict approach to its national security and is increasingly using data gathered online to mould behaviour.
In 2015, it established hotlines for people to inform on spies, and in 2016 a cartoon campaign was launched to warn of the risks of dating foreigners.
Additional reporting by Christine Wei