The Chinese government will reward citizens with cash or “spiritual” incentives if they come forward with a national security tip-off, according to plans announced by Beijing this week.
Citizens can receive cash payments from less than 10,000 yuan (about $1,500) to more than 100,000 yuan (about $15,000), depending on the importance of the information they provide, according to CNN, CNN reported that he may also receive a “spiritual award” like a certificate.
While the strategy to pay for information is not new to the country, the plans are aimed at unifying the Chinese people to identify foreign spies or people who masquerade as officials from threats from “foreign intelligence agencies and hostile forces”. are alert. A representative of the Ministry of State Security told the official newspaper Legal Daily, according to Reuters,
The representative told Legal Daily, “The formulation of the measures is well suited to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the general public to support and assist in national security work, which broadly unites the hearts, morale, knowledge and strength of the people.” Is.”
The plan would only apply to new information provided and citizens would have several ways to notify authorities, including online tip submission, showing up in person, calling the national security hotline or by mail, CNN reported.
If more than one person submits the same information, the prize will be awarded to the person who came first, but others may also be offered some in return, according to Reuters.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has become more authoritarian and wary of outside influence. For example, in 2015 China created a hotline for people to report on suspected spies, while a few years later, according to CNN, an informal note on social media stating the characteristics to identify spies became widespread. was shared. Specialties include the employment of an individual, including foreign correspondents or NGO employees.
The term “hostile forces” is used to target the government’s rewards system, which could potentially include Chinese citizens who criticize the government.
Hong Kong also set to upgrade its “anti-violence hotline” Press release Posted on Hong Kong Police website. Officials launched the hotline in 2019 after protests against a national security law imposed by Beijing.
Referring to its success, the police said, “The hotline has addressed several reports of enthusiastic citizens.”
“After the National Security Act came into force in mid-2020, Hong Kong’s law and order has generally regained its stability,” the press release said. “Nevertheless, police note that the activities of local extremists have gone underground and become more covert.”
For this reason, the police said that the anti-violence hotline will go to the counter-terrorism hotline managed by the Inter-Departmental Counter-Terrorism Unit, while calling on citizens to report violent acts and terrorism-related activities around them, and ” Specifically “extremist conspiracies.”
“To encourage the public to report, police are planning to reward those who provide credible information related to terrorism,” the press release said.