Beijing is going to pay its citizens big bucks to root out foreign spies, according to Chinese state media.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of State Security is offering thousands of dollars to Chinese people who share information on “foreign intelligence agencies and other hostile forces” engaging in espionage or subversion. “If you see something, report it anonymously and walk away with a cool half a million yuan ($72,382) reward,” the China Daily reports.
China asserts that Beijing, as the nation’s capital, is a main target for foreign spies, so to boost national security, citizens are being enlisted and put on the front lines of the counter-intelligence fight. The Beijing government is calling on the people to “‘build a Great Wall of iron and steel to keep out traitors and spies.”
The people of Beijing can call a hotline, send in letters, or personally report the information on foreign spies. Citizens will be paid in accordance with the quality of information they provide.
The Chinese military warned in January that spies are weakening China. “It is a major security threat that we cannot afford to ignore,” the PLA Daily argued, “If a war were to break out tomorrow, intelligence would be our Achilles heel.
China recognizes the value of spying because it has a reputation for engaging in high-level of espionage to the detriment of other countries.
For instance, Su Bin, a Chinese businessman, confessed last year to working with Chinese agents to steal information on American military projects, such as the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
China should “show our gratitude and respect for his service to our country,” the Global Times wrote in response, “On the secret battlefield without gunpowder, China needs special agents to gather secrets from the US.”
A division of the People’s Liberation Army is believed to have engaged in corporate espionage for years before several officers were indicted by the Department of Justice. The Chinese Ministry of State Security is suspected to be behind the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack which resulted in the theft of millions of files on current and former U.S. government employees. Furthermore, China’s growing drone capabilities may be the result of a certain degree of intellectual property theft.
“We are confronted with increasing threats and challenges,” Chinese President Xi Jinping warned in a 2014 speech, adding that foreign “hostile forces” are carrying out “infiltration and sabotage activities” on Chinese soil.
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