China’s New Anti-Espionage Law Poses Risks for Foreign Businesses
Commentary
Under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) new anti-spying law, normal business activities may be considered spying, resulting in foreigners being banned from entering or exiting China.
China’s revised Counter-Espionage Law, which went into effect on July 1, prohibits the transfer of information related to national security while also expanding the definition of national security. Additionally, the law broadens the scope of what constitutes spying.
Spying can now include “organizations or individuals [that] collude, to steal, pry into, state secrets, intelligence, and other documents, data, materials.” While the definition of spying in most countries would apply to attempts to steal state secrets, prying into state secrets would generally not be a crime. This type of broad and ambiguous language is concerning for Westerners who might assume it is acceptable to ask sensitive questions. Now, merely asking appears to be illegal. This imperils everyone from foreign journalists to auditors….