Since the new version of the "Counter-espionage Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Counter-espionage Law") was revised and adopted in April 2023, it has been widely respected and supported by the international community, but some external forces have the bad mentality of "blackening the face" for fear of being "slapped in the face", "protecting the shortcomings" for fear of being "exposed", and "throwing the blame" for fear of being "brought to the pot", pointing fingers at China's normal counter-espionage legislation and law enforcement work, distorting and smearing it. However, the fact is that the revision of the "Counter-espionage Law" was promulgated at the right time, with standardized procedures and clear powers and responsibilities, which effectively deterred the arrogance of foreign espionage and intelligence agencies and made the broad masses of the people feel more at ease.
At present, on the new journey of comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization, China's development stands at a new historical starting point, and major changes have taken place in the external environment and security pattern.
Implement the new spirit and new deployment. The revision and promulgation of the "Counter-espionage Law" is an important achievement in the implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, an important improvement of the legal system with Chinese characteristics, and an institutionalized and law-based way to promote the party's innovative theories to take root on the hidden front, which has great guiding significance for deepening the counter-espionage struggle in the new era and new journey, and provides strong legal support for the new era and new journey to write a new chapter of "governance with Chinese characteristics".
Adapt to the new situation in the counter-espionage struggle. At present, open contests and covert struggles in the field of espionage are being staged one after another, and the main subjects of various types of espionage and sabotage activities are more diverse, the targets are more complex, the fields are broader, the methods are more covert, and the harm is more serious, and the situation in the counter-espionage struggle is grim and complex. Recently, the leading organs have fully performed their duties in the fight against espionage, and have successively cracked and exposed a series of cases such as the US intelligence agency (CIA) espionage case and the British secret intelligence agency (MI6) espionage case, effectively safeguarding China's national sovereignty, security and development interests. This fully shows that the revision of the "Counter-espionage Law" is an urgent need to strengthen the counter-espionage struggle under the new situation, provides a strong law for preventing and cracking down on all kinds of espionage activities and safeguarding the new situation under the new situation, and lays a solid foundation for the rule of law to ensure the new development pattern with a new security pattern and high-quality development with high-level security.
It is a common practice of the international community to prevent and crack down on espionage activities in the form of legislation, and it is a legitimate and just move for China to revise and promulgate the "Counter-espionage Law" from the perspective of safeguarding its own country.
Attaching importance to counter-espionage work is the consensus of all countries. Espionage comes with the emergence of the state, due to the sensitivity of its behavior, the political nature of the purpose, the foreign-related nature of the subject, the secrecy of the form, the uncontrollable influence and the irremedial nature of the damage, resulting in espionage becoming one of the most serious behaviors among the many harmful factors, and all countries have severely cracked down. China's defense and counter-espionage struggle in accordance with the law is a fair and fair move.
Carrying out counter-espionage legislation is the standard configuration of major countries. It is an international practice to prevent and prevent espionage and standardize legislation to prevent the leakage and maintenance of state secrets. The United States passed the Espionage Act in 1917 and promulgated the world's first economic espionage law in 1996. In 2023, the UK will introduce the *** Bill, adding criminal offences such as "sabotage" and "foreign interference"; France is the country with the most detailed legislation on espionage in the civil law system, with a total of 12 articles in the French criminal code dealing with espionage; In Russia, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides detailed provisions for espionage and its penalties.
The revision and promulgation of the Counter-Espionage Law strictly abides by relevant domestic laws in China, with rigorous and compliant procedures, and clear powers and responsibilities, which fully reflects the openness, transparency, clarity and clarity of China's legislative activities.
The revision procedure is scientifically disclosed. In the course of revising the "Counter-espionage Law", publish the full text of the revised draft to solicit public comments; The legislative work department has widely solicited the opinions of all sectors of society through various methods such as holding symposiums, debate meetings, and on-the-spot research of front-line law enforcement units. The drafting and deliberation process of the revised draft of the "Counter-espionage Law" is to strictly follow the requirements of the "Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China", to conduct a pre-legislative assessment of the feasibility, timing of promulgation, social effects, and possible issues of the main provisions of the revised draft, and to conduct a constitutional review of the revised draft in accordance with law, fully embodying the principles of scientific, democratic, and law-based legislation.
Coordinate the relationship between authority and authority. The Counter-espionage Law properly handles the relationship between empowerment and restriction of powers, and strengthens supervision and restraint on the exercise of public power. In terms of empowerment, further strengthen centralized and unified leadership of counter-espionage efforts, improve the definition of espionage conduct in a targeted manner, strengthen the responsibility of organs for counter-espionage law enforcement and oversight, improve counter-espionage investigation and handling measures, and expand the types and scope of administrative punishments; In terms of limiting powers, the Counter-espionage Law clearly stipulates that "counter-espionage work shall be carried out in accordance with law, respecting and protecting human rights, and safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organizations". At the same time, the "Counter-espionage Law" establishes a special chapter on "safeguards and supervision" to further clarify the normative requirements for law enforcement by leading organs, strictly enforce approval procedures, and strengthen supervision of illegal acts by staff members of leading organs.