Chinese security officers get greater powers to inspect your smartphone, Plus commercial property in China takes a nosedive -- China Boss News 7.05.24

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What happened

Chinese security officials were granted greater powers to inspect personal electronic devices earlier this week as another part of China's controversial espionage law came into force.

The 'smartphone inspection' law has sparked concerns among international travelers to and within China, raising fears of privacy and safety breaches.

Experts say that security officers under the new law can more freely inspect devices by showing government ID at national borders, domestic airports, offices, hotels, and homes.

Security analysts at Dragonfly Intelligence, a geopolitical data and security intelligence service, say that most international visitors to China are unlikely to have their electronics searched.

However, authorities are likely to concentrate on gathering personal and commercial data for those less fortunate. This could include 'emails/text messages/instant messages, documents, images/audio files/videos, geolocation data, and the presence and contents of encrypted communication apps, particularly Telegram and Signal.'

Why it matters

People-to-people exchanges

In November, US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised to increase people-to-people exchanges to bolster cultural and business ties disrupted during the pandemic.

Both leaders agreed that improving in-person interactions is critical to stabilizing the increasingly volatile US-China relationship.

But China's expanded espionage law undermines that objective, putting additional strain on fragile ties.

Although the Chinese Communist Party is known for enacting vague laws that pressure individuals to self-police lest they cross an invisible line, the amended counter-espionage law tips the scales in abusiveness.

According to Marina Yue Zhang, an Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, "the law broadens its scope beyond what it originally sought to prohibit—leaks of state secrets and intelligence—to include any 'documents, data, materials, or items related to national security and interests.'"

However, the law doesn't provide additional guidance on what constitutes 'national security' or 'interests,' as it requires, leaving individuals and organizations uncertain about their actions and potential consequences.

Yet, despite being ambiguous, the law clearly "has teeth."

"Last month, a new national campaign was launched with rewards of up to 500,000 renminbi (just over A$100,000) for anyone reporting suspicious individuals or suspected espionage activities. Red banners have started appearing on Chinese streets, proclaiming: 'Implement the new anti-espionage law, mobilize collective efforts to safeguard national security,'" Zhang warned.

Jeremy Daum, senior research fellow at Yale's Paul Tsai China Center, also gave his two cents on the "whole-of-society approach to dealing with anything that is a risk to this broad definition of national security.”

The law now gives authorities a more comprehensive range of actions for intimidating and punishing individuals, and is likely to have a "chilling effect on Chinese citizens who have contact with foreigners and foreign organizations."

'Lost generation' of US-China experts

During his meeting with Biden in San Francisco last year, Xi announced his intention to attract 50,000 Americans to study at Chinese universities over the next five years.

However, a new WSJ report this week suggests that that figure is unattainable as the number of Americans studying in China has fallen off a cliff since the pandemic began.

"In the last full academic year before the pandemic, over 11,000 Americans were studying in China, making it the most popular non-European destination for USUS students abroad and the seventh overall, according to data from the Institute of International Education. As of June 2023, the IIE said, China wasn't even among the top 20. While there is no official tally of Americans currently studying in China, Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to Beijing, put the number at about 800 …," news staff said.

A student from the US who was asked why he decided against studying in China said, "The country's restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible," and that his friends cited "restrictions on academic freedom and the risk of being stranded in China" after it reopened.

But David Moser, an associate professor at Beijing Capital Normal University, told WSJ that "the number of Americans studying in China has been declining for over a decade amid rising U.S.-China tensions and the tightening of controls on expression under Xi."

"We really need to have people at all levels of government, business, academia who are China-savvy. I feel like we've already lost a generation of those people,' Moser said, highlighting the potential long-term impact of the law on the expertise and understanding of China in the US.

American professionals, too, are declining to include China in their travel plans as reports of the use of exit bans against high-profile foreign executives hit global headlines.

Finally, in an extraordinary interview with the Wall Street Journal in late June, US Ambassador Nicholas Burns criticized Beijing for "actively undermin[ing]" people-to-people exchanges by "interrogating and intimidating citizens who attend U.S.-organized events in China, ramping up restrictions on the embassy's social-media posts and whipping up anti-American sentiment."

"Beijing has also made it harder for Chinese students to attend US universities. University fairs across China have rescinded invitations for US diplomatic staff to promote American colleges to high-school students and their parents, citing ideological or national security concerns," Burns added.

But China pushed back against the accusation that Beijing was to blame for fewer Americans visiting China.

"Ambassador Burns' remarks don't line up with the facts, deviate from the important consensus reached by the two leaders in their San Francisco summit, are not in line with the proper way for China and the US to coexist and are unhelpful to the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations," spokeswoman Mao Ning said in response.

Mao also accused the US of harassing Chinese students, even deporting some, which she said "created a serious chilling effect" for others.

Still, the US has not made a series of draconian changes in its national security rules that can intrude on the rights of so many foreign travelers.

China's revamped anti-espionage law potentially outlaws any content critical of the government or that runs against official statements and commonly used software and communication applications, which may now be considered contraband if found by border security in a Chinese airport, hotel, or train station.

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