Visitors to China have new reason to be concerned, especially if they ask too many questions, work odd hours, or have too much study-abroad experience.
China has unveiled a new hotline enabling citizens to report people they suspect of being foreign agents, according to a report in the state-owned Jilin Daily. The government is seeking anyone who would “steal, pry out, buy or otherwise illegally obtain state secrets or intelligence, or conspire, coerce or pay government employees to become traitors,” according to a translation by the New York Times.
A post circulating on the Chinese social media website Weibo lists the characteristics of spies to which citizens should be alert. Among them are people who claim to work too many jobs; are well-funded; ask sensitive questions about politics, the military, business or the media; have more study-abroad experience than their age suggests; or start controversial conversations and sit back to observe.
A similar hotline in the province of Hainan has received dozens of tips since its creation in July. China detained Sandy Phan-Gillis, an American woman accused of spying in March, as she accompanied a trade delegation from Houston, as well as two Japanese citizens in May, and a Canadian couple operating a coffee shop last year.
The chairmen of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., called on the State Department to issue a travel advisory regarding China in a letter last week, referencing Gillis as the impetus.
“It seems advisable for the State Department to consider issuing a travel advisory for China, so that Americans, including untold numbers who routinely conduct business in the mainland, are aware of the potential risks,” the letter said.
The Chinese paranoia may be unreasonably high considering this year’s breach of the Office of Personnel Management, an incident traced to the Chinese government that resulted in the theft of 22 million classified personnel files from the United States. The Washington Post reported that the Central Intelligence Agency took at least one group of agents out of Beijing as a result of the incident, a charge that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper denied on Monday.
“Don’t believe everything you read in the media,” Clapper said in response to a reporter’s question.
