Don't Post that Photo: The 'cool hobby' that could land you in trouble in China

China has long been focused on building up its military. And the country’s public has been behind its government with its so-called ‘military fans’ posting pictures of ships and aircrafts on social media. But now, authorities are warning users against it. Let’s take a closer look: What happened? In a WeChat post Saturday entitled This is a cool hobby, but you must be very careful, the Ministry of State Security said: “Some individual military enthusiasts severely endanger national military security by illegally obtaining information regarding national defence and disseminating them on the internet.” “With a focus on military airports, ports, national defence and military industrial units, they drove to or took ferries or planes that pass by designated routes, and clandestinely photographed with telephoto lenses or drones.” As per Newsweek, it said it had in recent years “uncovered a number of criminal cases of military enthusiasts secretly photographing sensitive military equipment.” It warned information could be used by “people with ulterior motives to cause serious harm to national military security.”

As per CNN, repeat offenders could face up to seven years in prison.

However, “first-time or occasional offenders’ could be let off with a warning. The Ministry of State Security oversees intelligence and counterintelligence activities both within China and overseas. The agency earlier this year launched a social media account which warns the public against broadcasting China’s secrets abroad. The account also urges the public to join in the fight against spying. The security ministry on its WeChat account in August said China should encourage its citizens to join counter-espionage work, including creating channels for individuals to report suspicious activity as well as commending and rewarding them. A system that makes it “normal” for the masses to participate in counter-espionage must be established, wrote the Ministry of State Security, the main agency overlooking foreign intelligence and anti-spying, in its first post on its WeChat account. In protecting itself from espionage, China would need the participation of its people in building a defence line, the state security ministry wrote in its WeChat post in August. The latest post warned against showing the progress of warships and aircraft carriers by posting images online. [caption id=“attachment_13554992” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Coloured smoke marks the launch ceremony for China’s third aircraft carrier christened Fujian at a dry dock in Shanghai. Image: Li Gang/Xinhua via AP[/caption] “The development cycle of new military equipment, especially large surface ships such as aircraft carriers, is relatively long,” it said as per Newsweek. “Hostile external forces who analyse individual personal photos and other relative information can accurately surmise the manufacturing progress of military equipment, estimate and assess the timeline for commissioning into service and reaching combat effectiveness, and use this as a reference to prepare countermeasures,” it added This gains significance amid the fact that China’s latest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has been a popular subject for amateur spotters. As per SCMP, a military enthusiast in 2021 was given a year in prison for publishing unauthorised pictures of the Fujian using a high-definition camera. The newspaper quoted intelligence experts as saying the pictures had time stamps that would allow foreign agencies to evaluate progress on the Fujian. The camera also captured ‘sensitive devices’ on the Fujian. As per SCMP, another man in 2021 was given 14 months in prison after taking pictures near a dual-use airport in Zhejiang province’s Jiaxing. The Fujian, which is undergoing outfitting at a Shanghai shipyard, weighs 80,000 tonnes. It is considered a rival to the newest US Navy carriers, is equipped with an advanced electromagnetic catapult system. China tightens screws The warning underscores China’s efforts to prevent the unauthorised sharing of sensitive military information, aligning with its broader strategy to control information flow and enhance national security. Chinese lawmakers in April passed a wide-ranging update to Beijing’s anti-espionage legislation, banning the transfer of any information related to national security and broadening the definition of spying. The law took effect on 1 July. President Xi Jinping has made national security a key focus of his administration since taking office in 2012 and analysts say these revisions are evidence of that stricter regime as suspicion of the United States and its allies grows. All “documents, data, materials, and items related to national security and interests” are under the same protection as state secrets following the revisions, according to the full text of the revised law.

The law does not define what falls under China’s national security or interests.

It expands the definition of espionage to include cyber attacks against state organs or critical information infrastructure, state news agency Xinhua reported. The revised law allows authorities carrying out an anti-espionage investigation to gain access to data, electronic equipment, information on personal property and also to ban border crossings. Cyberattacks are also classed as acts of espionage. Political security is the top priority of national security, and the “core” of political security is the security of China’s political system, Minister of State Security Chen Yixin wrote in an article in a Chinese legal magazine in July. “The most fundamental is to safeguard the leadership and ruling position of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system with Chinese characteristics,” Chen said. In recent years, China has arrested and detained dozens of Chinese and foreign nationals on suspicion of espionage, including an executive at Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma in March. Australian journalist Cheng Lei, accused by China for providing state secrets to another country, has been detained since September 2020. China’s declaration that it is under threat from spies comes as Western nations, most prominently the United States, accuse China of espionage and cyberattacks, a charge that Beijing has rejected. The United States itself is the “empire of hacking,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said. Notably, the United States also has regulations restricting photography near certain military installations and equipment. The US Code prohibits making photographs or representations of vital military and naval installations or equipment without proper permission, and violators could face up to a year in prison. While amateur military enthusiasts have been a common source of open-source intelligence, concerns about national security and protecting military secrets are leading both China and the United States to take measures against such activities, CNN reported. With inputs from agencies