A Chinese flag flies over the Great Hall of the People before the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing, China, October 18, 2023.
Edgar Su | Reuters
BEIJING – China is stepping up national security measures by expanding protection of state secrets to a broad category of “work secrets.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an order on Tuesday formally adopting revisions to a law aimed at “protecting state secrets,” according to state media, which reported that lawmakers passed the updated law at a meeting earlier in the day.
The new rules, set to come into force on May 1, outline how the precautions for state secrets will also apply to unclassified information, so-called work secrets. The law defines trade secrets in the broadest sense as information the disclosure of which would have “adverse effects,” and said specific actions would be disclosed separately.
This article on labor secrets is “the most problematic,” said Jeremy Daum, a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center.
“There is a risk that individual departments will overzealously label things as ‘work secrets,'” said Daum. He also founded the website China Law Translate, which published an unofficial English translation of the new rules.
“This limits the public’s right to know and also exposes people to potential liability.”
For foreign companies, the lack of clarity remains an unquantified risk to their operations in China.
Jeremy Daum
Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School
While China regularly reveals a certain amount of information about government plans and economic data, the country is often considered more opaque compared to many developed countries.
For example, high-ranking officials in China have disappeared from public view without a formal explanation. Guidelines, even those that support companies, do not always contain specific implementation dates.
Last year, new Chinese laws on espionage and foreign policy included buzzwords such as “state secrets,” which were left up to interpretation by authorities. Separate rules on what types of data foreign companies in China can send out of the country do not yet provide formal clarity on what is considered “important data” and therefore subject to export restrictions.
“For foreign companies, the lack of clarity remains an unquantified risk for their business in China,” said Daum.
“Adding trade secrets and mentioning information that only becomes secret after it is combined with other information raises concerns that one could inadvertently violate classified information,” he said.
“In practice, however, the protection of state secrets has so far been extended to seemingly harmless situations, and foreign companies have continued to exist.”
Growing national security concerns
The updated state secrets law comes as Beijing and Washington increasingly cite national security risks in announcing new restrictions on companies.
“The new law will reinforce the general feeling in the foreign business community that Chinese leaders’ concerns about national security have made the country’s business environment more difficult,” said Gabriel Wildau, managing director of consulting firm Teneo.
“China’s economic growth prospects remain the key factor influencing foreign investment decisions, but the secrecy law adds another negative incentive on the sidelines,” he said.
The rules describe state secrets as information that, if leaked, could “harm” China’s security and interests in politics, economics, national defense, foreign policy, technology and other areas, according to China Law Translate.
The law also maintained restrictions on foreign travel by those currently or recently working with state secrets.
“I don’t know whether the revisions meaningfully expand their scope, but the holistic view of national security, a theme that runs through this law and other recent security laws, has created some barriers to travel in general,” Daum said .
“A document published several years ago on counterintelligence precautions required a large number of people traveling for work to undergo a security briefing before departure.”
The final version of “Guarding State Secrets” has been under government discussion for months.
The revised law provides a “strong legal guarantee for better protection of national sovereignty, security and development interests,” Li Zhaozong, director of the Central Security Bureau and the National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets, wrote on Wednesday in an article published by People’s Daily. the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. This comes from a CNBC translation.
Li noted the importance of disclosing information that should be made public while ensuring confidentiality when necessary. The article did not mention any work secrets.
China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved the final version of the updated state secrets law after considering a round of revisions in October. The law was first passed in 1988.
Daum noted that many of the changes in the new rules are “updates for new technology and style changes.”
“The law provides clarity in some areas, limits the liability of executives in some cases and provides compensation for individuals whose rights have been restricted due to confidentiality requirements,” he added.
The National People’s Congress will open its annual session next week, where the country’s top leadership will release their economic plans and outlook and outline key policy measures.
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2024-02-28 06:14:17
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