Crash Course On How To Catch Spies, Xi With New Syllabus
President Xi Jinping’s growing obsession on national security has led to an addition of a new crash course in Beijing’s top Universities. The additional course will teach the Chinese students on how to catch spies.
The decision was taken after China”s president Xi Jinping chaired a National Security Council meeting in May, stressing on the importance of “extreme-case scenario” thinking. China has initially passed a anti spy-law and warned foreign forces are infiltrating the energy sector of the country, says Hindustan Times.
China’s Ministry of Security is now promoting such campaigns. At the government-run Tsinghua University, videos were shown instructing the teachers and students to form defence line against foreign forces. Similarly, Beijing University of Technology threw a national-security themed garden party.
Students at Beihang University, an aeronautic institute were asked to play an interactive training game called ‘Who’s the spy?’.
State Security Minister Chen Yixin in July wrote that national security was about political security, saying, “The core of political security is regime security.”
Though China is trying to bring the public together for a common cause, it is uncertain how much will they be successful in the process as they are now locked in an ideological battle with the US which is weighing on its economy and the Asian giant is currently slowing down. Last year, China had to witness a rare nationwide protest calling for the end of Covid zero and in some times removal of Xi.
“At the time of economic pressure, there are quite obvious concerns at the top leadership,” said Katja Drinhausen, head of the politics and society program at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. “Using collective fear as a way to build political and social cohesion is a very dangerous game to play.”
Ever since the founding of the Ministry of State Security in 1980’s, the organisation never had an official website and used hotlines for reporting activities endangering national security. But now apparently the Ministry have joined China’s social media app WeChat last month. Ever since then, they posted contents to secure national security on daily basis targeting audiences including primary school students. Directions are given on what kind of content and photos could be shared on social media.
A hyper-vigilance around spilling sensitive information is growing in the workplace. State-owned enterprises are running training sessions on state secrets, according to people familiar with the matter, says NDTV.
