China sets up English language website urging citizens to report on foreign spies

China sets up English language website urging citizens   

to report on foreign spies

 Neil Connor, Beijing  16 APRIL 2018 • 1:33PM

Beijing has set up a website in English and Chinese for people to report on "spies", the latest national security measure to be rolled out by increasingly sensitive Chinese authorities.

Citizens are being asked to report people involved in a range of activities, from bribing officials, instigating riots and even "inciting ethnic separatism".

The website also allows people to give information relating to foreigners meeting individuals who have "endangered state security".

Such language would cause alarm among human rights groups who have previously expressed concerns about recent security legislation in China which is couched in general terms and open to wide interpretation.

Chinese dissidents often reach out to foreign governments and media in an attempt to get their voices heard.

It is unclear why the website is available in both English and Chinese, although the expat population in China is growing.

A report by state news agency Xinhua said those who contact the website "will be rewarded if the information is true," although no details were given by authorities.

Last April, officials in Beijing offered rewards of between 10,000 (£1,100) to 500,000 (£55,600) yuan for information on spies.

Communist China takes an extremely strict approach to its national security and state media have previously reported on web users in the country being "lured" by foreign spies when looking for jobs and friends online.

China established hotlines for people to inform on spies in 2015, while a year later a cartoon campaign was launched which warned of the risks of dating foreigners.