National security: China warns military buffs not to photograph classified equipment

South China Morning Post has published an article claiming that the Ministry of State Security of China says images could give "foreign forces" insight on technical advances and deployments. Caliber.Az reprints the article.

China’s top counter- espionage agency has warned military enthusiasts not to post photos online of sensitive military equipment, saying they could endanger national security.

The Ministry of State Security said on its WeChat account on Saturday that anybody photographing such equipment could face jail time.

“Photographing sensitive military equipment without permission is an act that seriously endangers national security,” the ministry said.

It said the images could potentially expose sensitive information such as technical details and progress in military equipment, such as aircraft carriers, and be used by “hostile foreign forces” to analyse combat effectiveness.

They could also put defence planning at risk by revealing key information such as location of deployments and frequency of use of the military equipment.

The ministry said there had been cases in recent years of people using professional equipment such as telephoto lenses and drones to secretly photograph military equipment at military airports, ports, and national defence industrial units.

“[These] individual ‘military fans’ illegally obtained national military information for personal reasons to show off and gain traffic. It spreads to the internet, where it is used by people with ulterior motives, causing serious harm to national military security,” the ministry said.

The offenders were punished, it said.

In 2021, a military enthusiast was sentenced to one year in prison on multiple charges of illegally obtaining state secrets after secretly photographing the Fujian aircraft carrier with a remote high-definition camera well before its official launch in June 2022.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, intelligence experts said the photos had time details that could enable foreign intelligence to assess progress on the aircraft carrier and had enough resolution to gauge the parameters of its sensitive devices.

Also that year, a man was sentenced to 14 months in prison for illegally obtaining state secrets after taking photos containing military secrets near a dual-use airport in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province.

The ministry warned in the post that individuals illegally obtaining or possessing documents, data, materials, and items containing state secrets but that not amounting to a criminal offence could face up to 10 days in detention.

Serious and repeat offenders who obtain state secrets through theft, spying, or bribery could face up to seven years in prison.

China tightened its anti-espionage law this year, broadening the definition of espionage and banning transfer of information containing state secrets.

The ministry also encouraged Chinese citizens to do their part against spying, creating channels and platforms for the public to report suspicious activities that could endanger national security.