Ministry urged the public to alert national security authorities about any suspicious people or activities
Beijing said Monday that Chinese citizens should be aware of “friendly foreign faces” that may be spies, including false academics, tourists and romantic partners who want to obtain information about the country.
In a publication on its official social networking account, the China State Ministry of Security wrote that foreign spies may be hidden in view of all, using various identities to carry out activities that threaten the country’s national security.
The ministry highlighted five false identities usually used by foreign spies: tourists who do not tourism, academics who do not conduct real investigation, businessmen who do not do business, and “insincere lovers” who exploit relationships to collect information.
Some agents may approach Chinese students abroad and pretend to be “foreign friends who share the same interests,” and then try to recruit them through love relationships, the ministry warned.
“Don’t be fooled by a sweet conversation and never reveal to them sensitive or confidential information,” he warned.
The ministry also urged the public to alert national security authorities about any suspicious people or activities.
In recent years, China has intensified counter -espionage work, with the State Ministry of Security to publish a series of messages on social networks to sensitize the public for possible threats in seemingly normal contexts.
In Sunday’s publication, the ministry warned of academics to “approach suddenly and overly warmly” and for foreign friends and online contacts who are “excessively anxious and attentive” in search of romantic relationships.
Foreign spies can infiltrate universities and research institutes by passing through academics interested in exchanges and collaboration, read in the statement.
They can also use financial incentives or promises of academic or personal favors to extract sensitive information and fundamental technologies from China, he said.
It is strictly forbidden to bring confidential material to academic events abroad, he added.
Citizens should also be careful with occasional foreign tourists and family visitors who show interest in natural landscapes and geography near military or sensitive areas, or who wanders, photograph or try to use high precision cartographic equipment in these zones.
People should also be aware of those who try to induce local residents to conduct illegal surveys and recognition on site on their own.
The Revised China counter -espionage Law, which entered into force in 2023, extended the definition of espionage acts and reinforced the investigative powers of the National Security Law application agencies.
Under these stricter rules, the ministry announced in March that an former engineer of a Chinese investigation institute was sentenced to the death penalty for selling material to foreign espionage agencies.
