○ China's first draft intelligence law is open for public consultation
○ The draft law aims to link up with National Security Law, Anti-espionage Law and Anti-terrorism Law to protect China's national interests
○ Security experts say the new law is needed as foreign spies have never stopped collecting intelligence in China and they find every chance to stir up trouble
Every time Beijing hosts some major event, middle-aged Du patrols her neighborhood with other retired Party members to keep an eye out for anything abnormal. If she spots anything suspicious, she will dutifully report it to the authorities.
Du is one of Beijing's Chaoyang district masses, known in Chinese as the Chaoyang qunzhong, who have been mobilized by the government to act as the front line of security.
The role of these grass-roots eyes and ears may be enshrined in law soon, as the first draft of a new law on "intelligence" says that "professional methods" should be combined with the "mass line," a phrase which has been interpreted by many as referring to volunteers like Du.
This eye-catching phrase is just one of the 28 articles in the draft, open to public consultation until June 4, that cover who should lead intelligence gathering, the rights of the intelligence agencies and the protection of agents and their families.
Though the draft has been released on the website of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, with little fanfare, the law has still aroused discussion in the media due to its significance as the country's first attempt to legally regulate intelligence gathering.
"There was no law to govern intelligence work before and it was mostly carried out following ministry documents. The coming law is of breakthrough importance in legislation and means a lot to maintaining national security," noted Wang Qiang, a specialist in non-war military actions at the National Defence University of the People's Liberation Army.
An urgent matter
The introduction to the draft says that the law aims to link up with China's National Security Law, Anti-espionage Law and Anti-terrorism Law to maintain national interests, including sovereignty, unity, and independence, territorial integrity and the people's welfare.
It also says that the law will give the authorities the legal right to monitor and investigate Chinese and foreign nationals and organizations to protect national security if passed.
To many Chinese people concerned with national security issues, a legal framework for intelligence work is long overdue, as seen from the feedback of netizens on Sina Weibo.
"The importance of intelligence to national security goes without saying. Besides, it [the law] will put another layer of armor for people working covertly for intelligence," a netizen named Shouwang told the Global Times.
"Even though now is an era of peace, rival powers both overseas and at home have never disappeared and neighboring regions are in turmoil. Spies never stop collecting intelligence in China and they will find every chance to stir up trouble," said Li Jie, a Beijing-based military expert. "The national security situation is tense."
In recent years, State security organs have cracked down on many cases involving intelligence that shocked the public. In one case in South China's Guangdong Province, an NGO with the stated aim of defending migrant workers' rights was found to have received funding from overseas, and police said the group had incited illegal strikes.
"It is very easy for those who are weak and easily influenced to get swayed and do something harmful to the country in conspiracy with overseas forces," said Li, "Establishing a law to regulate intelligence shows China will pay more attention to this area."
"Unlike traditional struggles, untraditional struggles in national security, like anti-terrorism, are rather complex, and require enormous quantities of intelligence data," noted Wang. "Once it is passed, the law will fill a vacancy in the legal system concerning national security. And it will be of profound influence."
"It will integrate all the forces and make our intelligence work more effective while reducing waste of resources."
