In the video, a man travels in time to remind his past self to stay alert and avoid leaking information related to the economy, technology and military to the consultancy.
China warns foreign hackers are infiltrating business and government networks
China warns foreign hackers are infiltrating business and government networks
Over the past year, the state security ministry has become more active on social media to warn about the threat from foreign spies and call on the public to share information about suspicious activity.
The ministry said the overseas consultancy conducted a comprehensive review of the Chinese company with the stated purpose of assisting its overseas listing, but used the process to gain access to core data and state secrets.
It said the consultancy persuaded staff at the company to answer questions about classified information, inquired about unauthorised classified files and recorded classified information about core products.
“Such information, if accumulated to a certain extent and analysed in a comprehensive manner, can reflect important information about our economic operation, national defence and military, which are important targets coveted by overseas espionage and intelligence agencies, and once leaked, will seriously endanger national security,” the ministry said.
Chinese security agencies tell students studying abroad to beware of spy risk
Chinese security agencies tell students studying abroad to beware of spy risk
The ministry warned that such activities amounted to illegally obtaining commercial secrets for “the containment and suppression of China’s advantageous industries”.
These activities aim to spy on and steal China’s core secrets, acting as “an accomplice” in espionage, infiltration and instigation, the ministry added.
Without naming the overseas consultancy that inspired the video, the ministry said its illegal activities were being watched and state security agencies had “acted decisively, blocking the channels of leakage of core data in a timely manner”.
The ministry emphasised that under the counter-espionage law, the definition of espionage is not limited to working directly with spy agencies and their surrogates but can also include working with other groups to leak state secrets.
Beijing — China’s spy agency said Monday the head of a foreign consultancy had been found to be spying for Britain’s MI6 intelligence service. The Ministry of State Security said in a post on China’s WeChat social media platform that Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, used a foreign national with the surname Huang to establish an “intelligence cooperation relationship.”
Huang, who headed a foreign consulting agency, “entered China several times under instructions to use their public profile as a cover to collect China-related intelligence for Britain… and seek other personnel whom MI6 could turn,” the MSS said in the post.
The statement did not provide further details of Huang’s identity or employer, or describe their current condition or whereabouts.
Huang allegedly passed 17 pieces of intelligence, including confidential state secrets, to MI6 before he was identified, according to the MSS. The ministry also claimed he had received “professional intelligence training” in Britain and had used “specialist spying equipment” to send communications.
The MSS said an investigation had “promptly discovered criminal evidence that Huang was engaged in espionage activities, and took criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law.”
Britain’s embassy in Beijing directed an AFP request to comment to the Foreign Office in London, which did not immediately respond.
China’s foreign ministry declined to provide further comment when asked about the case at a regular press briefing.
Espionage allegations impact Western business in China
China and Britain have traded barbs in recent months over allegations of espionage and its resulting impact on national security. Britain’s government has warned that Chinese spies are increasingly targeting officials — allegations that Beijing has denied.
A researcher at the British parliament was arrested last year under the Official Secrets Act and subsequently denied spying for Beijing.
China, which has a broad definition of state secrets, has publicized several other alleged spying cases in recent months.
In May, authorities sentenced 78-year-old American citizen John Shing-wan Leung to life in prison for espionage, though Beijing has not provided substantial details of his case.
In October, the MSS published the story of another alleged spy, surnamed Hou, who was accused of sending several classified documents to the U.S.
China also conducted raids last year on a string of big-name consulting, research and due diligence firms. Last May, China said it had raided the offices of U.S. consultancy firm Capvision in order to safeguard its “national security and development interests.”
Beijing also questioned staff at the Shanghai branch of another American consultancy, Bain, in April, and authorities detained workers and shuttered a Beijing office belonging to U.S.-based due diligence firm Mintz Group in March.
The U.S. government and its chambers of commerce warned that the raids damage investor confidence and the operations of foreign businesses in China.
James Zimmerman, a business lawyer who works in Beijing, told CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer in June that the raids had spooked foreign businesses.
“Everything’s a threat, you know,” Zimmerman said. “Unfortunately, in that kind of environment it’s very difficult to operate — when everything is viewed as a national security matter… it looks as if…. anything you do could be considered to be spying.”
Zimmerman told CBS News then that some business leaders were beginning to “rewrite their strategic plans just because of the tension” between China and the West, noting that the increase in scrutiny from Chinese authorities “makes it politically very risky for them.”