explainer
Taiwan has warned its citizens not to travel to China over concerns that the new law could be used to punish normal business activities.
Taiwan will not allow its citizens to travel to China or harass foreign companies due to concerns that China’s revised state secrets law will be used to punish ordinary business activities. I’m warning you.
The amendments to the National Secrets Act passed on Wednesday come as President Xi Jinping’s government increases its focus on national security, including amending China’s anti-espionage law and increasing surveillance of companies with ties to foreign countries. It was conducted.
These include police raids on consulting firms and arrests of foreign executives on suspicion of spying.
Here’s what you need to know about the latest laws.
What’s new in the revised National Secrets Act?
The National Secrets Protection Act was first passed in 1988 and covers a wide range of fields, including politics, economics, national defense, and foreign affairs.
Legislative reforms introduced by China’s top legislative body in February expand its scope to include “trade secrets,” i.e. information that does not fall under state secrets but could cause “adverse consequences if divulged.” .
The proposed amendment also requires internet companies to cooperate in cracking down on suspected data leaks and investigating them. If there is a suspicion of leaking state secrets, Article 34 of the revised law states that the “network operator” “shall immediately stop transmission, preserve relevant records, and report.” [the case] Submit to secret management departments or public security and national security agencies. ” The operator is also obligated to delete information upon request.
The revised law also requires government agencies to devote resources to protecting state secrets, and establishes a “secret separation management period” in which civil servants who handle state secrets are prohibited from rehiring or leaving China for a certain period of time.
The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted an official at China’s State Secret Protection Agency as saying the revisions were necessary to respond to “new problems and challenges of the new era.”
Why are foreign companies concerned?
The enactment of the revised state secrets law comes a year after China’s top legislative body passed wide-ranging changes to anti-espionage laws, including a ban on the transfer of any information related to national security.
China’s foreign business community also remains tense after the arrest of a senior Japanese employee at Astellas Pharma on espionage charges and a series of police raids on the offices of due diligence firm Mintz Group last year. It’s also an event that happened while I was there. They are from two consulting firms: Bain & Company and CapVision.
Against this backdrop, US-based law firm WilmerHale said the changes to the State Secrets Act have created uncertainty and compliance challenges for companies operating in China.
Mr. WilmerHale particularly focused on the provisions regarding “work secrecy.” He said what constitutes an “official secret” under the law is not clear and is susceptible to arbitrary, contradictory or expansive interpretations.
“Business secrets may include information obtained, perhaps through traditional research or due diligence…Including this term in the State Secrets Act…leads to self-censorship and disrupts normal business operations. “This could lead to serious consequences,” the report said.
However, Baker McKenzie and U.S.-China partner Fengxun said the law “should not have a significant impact on the normal business operations of most multinational companies.” Still, it recommended that companies “take operational steps to increase awareness of the protection of national secrets and strengthen data management.”
What did Taiwan say?
The enactment of the law concerns Taiwan, an autonomous island that the Chinese government claims as its own territory, and the Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement Tuesday, saying the expansion of the law poses risks associated with visiting China. It warned that this meant there was likely to be a “significant increase”.
The council said the revised law was “very vague and people could break the law at any time” and that the Chinese government “continues to use the law to closely monitor visitors to China from abroad”. “I’m doing it,” he criticized.
“I would like to once again appeal to the public to refrain from traveling to China for the time being, unless it is necessary.”
