Starting from Monday, July 1st, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has implemented new national security regulations, causing widespread anxiety among individuals intending to enter China. Experts believe that this move reflects an increasing sense of crisis within the CCP regime.
In April, the CCP’s National Security Department published the “Administrative Enforcement Procedures of the National Security Agency” and the “Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by the National Security Agency,” both of which came into effect on July 1st.
According to these regulations, in so-called “emergency situations,” enforcement officers, with approval from national security authorities at the city level or above, are authorized to inspect individuals’ electronic devices and related applications, tools, content, and organizations on the spot by presenting their police or reconnaissance credentials.
The regulations also state that enforcement officers can take measures to protect the relevant electronic devices when extracting electronic data on the scene, including separating criminal suspects or related individuals from the devices.
The regulations do not specifically mention targeting only Chinese citizens. Analysts believe that not only foreigners but also Chinese citizens returning from abroad could be subject to inspections at any time.
This development has raised widespread concerns among the public, with anxiety spreading on social media platforms about the increasing scrutiny faced by inbound travelers.
The Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council previously warned the public that the CCP has significantly revised and added to national security laws in recent years, increasing the possibility of inadvertently violating the law. They urged people to carefully evaluate the necessity of traveling to China and be aware of the risks posed by the new regulations.
According to reports from the South Korean news agency, the South Korean National Intelligence Service stated last Thursday (June 27) that due to the expanded authority of CCP national security agencies to conduct ad-hoc inspections of electronic devices, South Korean citizens in China should be cautious about the risks posed by the use of prohibited chat applications through virtual private networks (VPNs).
Since the enactment of the Anti-spy Law in 2014, the CCP has detained at least 17 Japanese nationals, with five still not released.
The stricter anti-spy law also requires citizens to report any espionage activities they discover and rewards those who contribute to anti-spy activities. Those who make significant contributions will receive rewards of at least 100,000 RMB (approximately 13,760 USD).
Scholars point out that in recent years, CCP customs authorities have begun random inspections of travelers’ electronic devices. Following the 2022 “Blank Paper Movement,” CCP public security personnel have extensively checked pedestrians’ phones, even conducting inspections in residents’ homes.
Regarding this news, independent political scholar Chen Daoyin, who resides in Chile, believes that the CCP is currently standardizing administrative and enforcement procedures through laws.
Chen Daoyin told Voice of America, “The stronger a regime’s sense of crisis, the stronger its desire for control.”