Preamble

The Law of the People's Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets (hereinafter referred to as the "Secrecy Law") officially came into effect on May 1, 1989, and was subsequently amended twice, on April 29, 2010, and February 27, 2024, thereby becoming a cornerstone legal instrument for safeguarding national security and interests. With the advancement of the times and the development of science and technology, the work of protecting state secrets faces unprecedented challenges. Against this backdrop, the revision of the Secrecy Law is of particular importance. The newly revised Secrecy Law will take effect on May 1, 2024. This revision not only refines the definition of state secrets and the classification of their levels but also strengthens the crackdown on violations of the Secrecy Law and increases the legal liability for acts of disclosure.

I. Definition of State Secrets

(1) Concept of State Secrets

State secrets are matters that concern the security and interests of the state, are determined in accordance with statutory procedures, and are known only to a defined scope of personnel within a specified period of time. This concept encompasses three fundamental elements of state secrets: concerning national security and interests, being determined in accordance with statutory procedures, and having a restricted scope of knowledge. Pursuant to Article 13 of the Secrecy Law, state secrets specifically include the following:

Secret matters in major decisions of state affairs;

Secret matters in national defense construction and armed forces activities;

Secret matters in diplomatic and foreign affairs activities, as well as secret matters for which a duty of confidentiality is undertaken to foreign parties;

Secret matters in national economic and social development;

Secret matters in science and technology;

Secret matters in activities for safeguarding national security and investigating criminal offenses; and

Other secret matters as determined by the state administrative department for the protection of state secrets.

(2) Classification Levels of State Secrets

The classification level of a state secret is the grade assigned to a matter of state secret by the state, based on the needs of safeguarding national security and interests and in accordance with statutory procedures, to indicate the degree of harm that may be caused to national security and interests if the state secret is disclosed. According to the Secrecy Law, the classification levels of state secrets are divided into three categories: Top Secret, Classified, and Confidential. These three levels are primarily distinguished by the degree of harm caused.

Top Secret state secrets are the most important state secrets; their disclosure would cause exceptionally grave harm to national security and interests. Such secrets typically involve the core interests of the state, such as national defense construction, foreign policy decisions, and major economic policies. Once disclosed, they would pose a significant threat to national security.

Classified state secrets are important state secrets; their disclosure would cause serious harm to national security and interests. Matters classified as Classified have a substantial impact on national security and interests, such as important scientific and technological inventions, significant military deployments, and critical economic construction information.

Confidential state secrets are general state secrets; their disclosure would cause harm to national security and interests. Although matters classified as Confidential are not as critical as those classified as Top Secret or Classified, their scope of knowledge must still be strictly controlled to prevent disclosure or improper use.

The determination of the classification level of state secrets shall comply with the authority and procedures for classification, and shall be carried out by the organs or entities with classification authority within their statutory scope of functions. For matters that constitute state secrets, the classification level shall be determined in accordance with the specific scope of state secrets and their classification levels, and the duration of confidentiality and the scope of knowledge shall also be determined simultaneously. When determining the classification level, factors such as the nature of the state secret matter, the scope involved, and the degree of impact on national security and interests shall be comprehensively considered to ensure the accuracy and reasonableness of the classification level.

(III) Determination, Modification, and Declassification of State Secrets

The determination of state secrets refers to the process of designating matters involving national security and interests as state secrets in accordance with legal provisions and the actual needs of confidentiality work. When determining state secrets, the principle of "minimization" shall be followed, meaning that matters shall only be designated as state secrets when necessary, and their scope shall be limited to the minimum extent possible. At the same time, the determination of state secrets requires full consideration of factors such as the nature of the matter, the scope involved, and the degree of impact on national security and interests, to ensure the accuracy and reasonableness of the classification level.

The modification of state secrets refers to the process of adjusting already determined state secrets due to changes in circumstances or developments. Modifications include upgrading or downgrading the classification level, extending or shortening the duration of confidentiality, and expanding or narrowing the scope of knowledge. When the degree of damage to national security and interests caused by the disclosure of a state secret matter changes significantly, or when the scope of confidential matters relied upon at the time of classification has been adjusted, the state secret shall be modified in a timely manner.

The declassification of state secrets refers to the process of removing the confidential status of matters that have been designated as state secrets, thereby releasing them from confidentiality restrictions. Declassification may occur either automatically or in advance.

II. Management of State Secrets

(I) Acts of Disclosure Violating the Secrecy Law

Pursuant to Article 57 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets, acts of disclosure that violate the Secrecy Law primarily include the following circumstances:

Illegally obtaining or possessing carriers of state secrets;

Buying, selling, transferring, or privately destroying carriers of state secrets;

Transmitting carriers of state secrets through ordinary postal services, courier services, or other channels lacking confidentiality measures;

Sending or shipping carriers of state secrets out of the country, or carrying or transmitting carriers of state secrets out of the country without approval from the relevant competent authorities;

Illegally reproducing, recording, or storing state secrets;

Involving state secrets in private communications or correspondence;

Transmitting state secrets via the internet or other public information networks, or through wired or wireless communications, without adopting effective confidentiality measures in accordance with state confidentiality regulations and standards;

Connecting classified information systems or classified information equipment to the internet or other public information networks without adopting effective confidentiality measures in accordance with state confidentiality regulations and standards;

Exchanging information between classified information systems or classified information equipment and the internet or other public information networks without adopting effective confidentiality measures in accordance with state confidentiality regulations and standards;

Using non-classified information systems or non-classified information equipment to store or process state secrets;

Unauthorized removal or modification of security technology programs or management programs of classified information systems;

Giving away, selling, discarding, or repurposing decommissioned classified information equipment that has not undergone secure technical processing.

Relevant Case:

Caution is required in online social interactions.

Li, an employee of a classified entity, met an online friend through a mobile dating application. Through frequent chats, their relationship gradually grew closer, and the contact began to introduce Li to her cousin, Zhang, claiming that Zhang was writing a thesis on government administration and urgently needed relevant materials. Zhang subsequently added Li as a WeChat friend and, under the pretense of a romantic relationship, induced Li to provide internal documents from Li's employer as source material for the thesis. To assist Zhang in completing the thesis, Li began to collect and provide classified documents from his employer. He provided Zhang with a total of 19 documents, including 6 classified as "confidential" and 8 classified as "secret." Subsequently, Li's actions were discovered by his employer, who immediately reported the matter to the police. Upon investigation, the authorities discovered that Zhang was in fact a member of a foreign espionage agency and had used the classified documents provided by Li to conduct intelligence activities.

Legal Analysis:

Pursuant to Article 57, Paragraph 5 of the Secrecy Law, the unlawful reproduction, recording, or storage of state secrets constitutes a breach of confidentiality under the Secrecy Law and shall be subject to sanctions in accordance with the law, depending on the severity of the circumstances. In this case, Li, trusting a "stranger" online, violated the relevant provisions of the Secrecy Law by unlawfully reproducing and transmitting state secrets, ultimately resulting in these state secrets being used by a foreign spy to harm national security. Li shall bear corresponding legal liability in accordance with the law.

In daily work and life, some personnel handling classified information, due to a lack of confidentiality awareness and the necessary vigilance in managing state secrets, have on occasion unlawfully sold or disclosed state secrets. Once such state secrets are leaked, they may cause immeasurable losses to the state. Therefore, personnel handling classified information in relevant entities must "tighten the string of confidentiality" and strictly implement the relevant management systems for state secrets.

Inadvertent Disclosure of Secrets in Daily Life by Residents

Mr. Wang is a photography enthusiast who enjoys taking landscape photos on weekends in his spare time. One weekend, he went to a remote mountainous area to take photographs. There, he stumbled upon what appeared to be an ordinary communication base station, but it was surrounded by special markings and warning lines. Without noticing the "No Photography" sign nearby, Mr. Wang took several photos and intended to upload them to his social media account to share this unique photography experience with friends. However, this communication base station was in fact an important military communication facility, and its existence and location constituted state secrets.

Fortunately, a friend of Mr. Wang, who had previously served in the military and had some knowledge of military facilities, immediately realized upon seeing Mr. Wang's photos that they might involve state secrets. He promptly alerted Mr. Wang and advised him to delete the photos. Following an investigation, the relevant authorities confirmed that the communication base station was indeed an important military facility, and the related information constituted state secrets.

Legal Analysis:

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets, state secrets refer to matters that concern the security and interests of the State, are determined through statutory procedures, and are known only to a limited scope of personnel within a specified period of time. Any person who, in violation of the provisions of this Law, intentionally or negligently divulges state secrets, where the circumstances are serious, shall be subject to criminal liability in accordance with the law. At the same time, citizens and organizations shall fulfill the obligation to guard state secrets and shall not illegally obtain, possess, reproduce, record, store, transmit, sell, provide, or use state secrets.

In the present case, Mr. Wang, as a photography enthusiast, photographed military communication facilities involving state secrets without authorization, thereby constituting the illegal acquisition of state secrets. If Mr. Wang ultimately uploads the photographs, he will bear legal liability for the illegal disclosure of state secrets. Fortunately, Mr. Wang's friend promptly identified the potential state secrets contained in the photographs and reminded Mr. Wang to delete them, thereby preventing further disclosure of state secrets.

Although Mr. Wang's conduct ultimately did not result in the actual disclosure of state secrets, due to a lack of necessary confidentiality awareness and legal knowledge, he inadvertently violated the relevant provisions of the Law on Guarding State Secrets, thereby placing state secrets at risk of disclosure. This case also serves as a warning that in daily life, whether photography enthusiasts or other citizens, all should enhance their awareness of confidentiality, comply with the state's confidentiality laws and regulations, and maintain a high degree of vigilance with respect to information and facilities that may involve state secrets, refraining from unauthorized photography, dissemination, and disclosure. At the same time, relevant authorities should also strengthen confidentiality education and publicity, improve citizens' confidentiality awareness and capabilities, and jointly safeguard the security and interests of the State.

(II) Management of State Secret Carriers

Management of State Secret Carriers:

Marking and Registration: All carriers involving state secrets, such as documents, materials, charts, data, audio-visual products, etc., must be clearly marked with their classification level and registered in accordance with relevant regulations. This helps ensure the accurate identification and effective management of classified carriers.

Storage and Custody: Classified carriers must be stored in locations that meet security and confidentiality requirements, such as security cabinets or secure rooms, and shall be placed under the custody of designated personnel. At the same time, classified carriers shall be regularly inspected and inventoried to ensure their integrity.

Transmission and Use: The transmission and use of classified carriers must strictly comply with confidentiality regulations. During transmission, measures such as encryption and sealing shall be taken to prevent information leakage. When in use, it shall be ensured that the use occurs in a secure environment and that access by unauthorized persons is avoided.

Destruction and Transfer: For classified carriers that are no longer required to be kept confidential, they must be destroyed or transferred in accordance with prescribed procedures. Destruction shall ensure that the information cannot be recovered, and transfer shall involve completing relevant formalities and ensuring the confidentiality capability of the recipient.

Management of Classified Information Systems:

System Security: Classified information systems must adopt strict security measures, including physical isolation, logical isolation, access control, data encryption, etc., to ensure the security and confidentiality of the system. At the same time, the system shall be regularly inspected and assessed for security to promptly identify and eliminate security risks.

User Management: Users of classified information systems must undergo strict identity verification and security review to ensure that only authorized personnel can access the system. Users shall comply with confidentiality regulations and shall not disclose system information or engage in unauthorized operations.

Data Protection: Data and files within classified information systems must be encrypted and have corresponding access permissions established. At the same time, a data backup and recovery mechanism shall be established to prevent data loss or damage.

Relevant Case:

A civil servant used a personal USB drive and WeChat to transmit data, resulting in the disclosure of state secrets.

Li, a civil servant in the office of a municipal government, frequently needed to process a large volume of government documents and data due to work requirements. For the sake of portability, he often stored these documents and data on his personal USB flash drive. Moreover, to facilitate his work, Li frequently took photographs of documents and transmitted them via WeChat. In an attempt to avoid "procedural violations," he even went so far as to cover the red header and classification markings on classified documents before photographing and sending them via WeChat.

Ultimately, Li discovered that while discussing work with others on WeChat, he had inadvertently sent documents and data involving state secrets into a WeChat group. Although he immediately deleted this information, a portion had already been saved by other group members and widely disseminated online. This incident drew significant attention from the relevant authorities. Following an investigation, it was confirmed that Li's conduct had seriously violated the state's confidentiality regulations, resulting in the leakage of state secrets.

Legal Analysis:

Pursuant to Article 57 of the Secrecy Law, no organization or individual may use non-classified information systems or non-classified information devices to store or process state secrets, nor may they transmit state secrets via the internet, other public information networks, or wired and wireless communications. In this case, for his own convenience, Li violated the relevant confidentiality provisions by using non-classified information devices (USB flash drive, mobile phone) to store state secrets and, due to negligence, uploaded state secrets to WeChat, a public network space. His conduct contravened the provisions of the Secrecy Law and, in accordance with the law, he shall bear corresponding legal liability.

In daily work, personnel in certain classified entities, for the sake of convenience, habitually photograph documents and transmit them via WeChat. Unbeknownst to them, this process may readily lead to the disclosure of document contents, particularly for documents containing classified information, as it becomes impossible to effectively control the scope of knowledge, thereby easily causing a leak. Although such leaks are mostly attributable to negligence in terms of subjective intent, whether intentional or negligent, publishing, transmitting, or processing classified documents and materials through the network will pose serious risks or even harm to national security and interests. The fundamental quality of maintaining confidentiality is prudence, and the basic requirement of prudence is to remain tight-lipped, exercising extreme caution in matters involving classified information, avoiding the disclosure of state secrets or internally sensitive matters in private interactions, strictly regulating one's own words and actions, and cultivating good confidentiality habits.

Illegal Espionage Devices Installed by Foreign Personnel within a Sea Cucumber Farming Enclosure

Mr. Zhang, a sea cucumber farmer in Dalian, Liaoning Province, reported to the state security authority that, two months prior, his farm had been visited by several "uninvited guests." Huang, leading several foreign individuals, installed marine hydrological monitoring equipment and sea-air surveillance recording devices at Mr. Zhang's sea cucumber farm under the pretext of "free installation of seawater quality monitoring equipment."

Subsequently, Mr. Zhang gradually discovered that data from the hydrological monitoring equipment was being continuously transmitted abroad, and much of this data was unrelated to sea cucumber farming. Furthermore, the sea-air surveillance recording devices were entirely meaningless for sea cucumber cultivation. Suspecting that the situation was suspicious, Mr. Zhang called 12339 to report the matter to the state security authority. Upon appraisal, it was determined that the monitoring equipment illegally installed by foreign personnel in China's sea areas had an observation range covering China's aerial military operations zones and could conduct real-time monitoring of sensitive data such as tides and currents in China's non-open sea areas, posing a serious threat to China's maritime rights and interests and military security.

Based on the reported information, the Liaoning Provincial State Security Authority lawfully took compulsory measures against Huang and the several foreign individuals and confiscated the monitoring equipment. Huang and the others truthfully confessed to the illegal acts of unlawfully stealing China's marine hydrological data and sea-air military imagery.

Legal Analysis:

Pursuant to the Secrecy Law and relevant laws and regulations, no individual or organization may unlawfully obtain, possess, or transmit state secrets, or participate in activities that endanger national security. In this case, Huang, leading foreign individuals, engaged in illegal espionage activities within China's sea areas under the pretext of "free installation of seawater quality monitoring equipment," installing marine hydrological monitoring equipment and sea-air surveillance recording devices at Mr. Zhang's sea cucumber farm and unlawfully transmitting observational data abroad. This conduct not only infringed upon China's maritime rights and interests but also posed a serious threat to China's military security.

This case serves as a further reminder that national security is no trivial matter. Any seemingly ordinary act, such as installing monitoring equipment, may become a hidden danger endangering national security. Citizens should enhance their awareness of national security, remain vigilant against any suspicious behavior, and promptly report it to the state security authority, working together to safeguard the nation's security and stability.

Conclusion

Safeguarding state secrets is the duty of every citizen. Through the interpretation of the Secrecy Law, we have gained a profound understanding of the importance and urgency of managing state secrets. Against the backdrop of the information age and networked society, the management of state secret carriers and classified information systems faces unprecedented challenges. Residents and fellow citizens can contribute to the protection of state secrets in their daily lives through the following measures:

First, enhance confidentiality awareness, remain vigilant at all times, and refrain from participating in or supporting any activity that may lead to the disclosure of state secrets.

Second, do not discuss or disseminate information involving national security on social media, forums, or chat groups, and avoid storing, transmitting, or sharing documents or data that may involve state secrets on the internet.

Third, avoid using unsecured Wi-Fi networks in public places to process sensitive information.

Fourth, strengthen social responsibility and legal awareness. Comply with national laws and regulations, and refrain from engaging in the illegal acquisition or dissemination of state secrets.

Fifth, if work requires access to classified materials, strictly adhere to confidentiality regulations, and do not retain, reproduce, or disseminate such materials without authorization. After use, classified materials shall be destroyed or returned in accordance with relevant provisions.