The Chinese government will reward citizens with monetary or “spiritual” incentives if they publish national security reports, according to plans announced by Beijing this week.
Citizens can receive cash payments of less than 10,000 yuan (approximately $ 1,500) or more than 100,000 yuan (approximately $ 15,000) depending on the amount of information they provide. According to CNN. They can also receive a “spiritual reward” such as a certificate, according to CNN.
Although information payment tactics are no longer new to the country, the plans aim to unite the Chinese people in identifying foreign spies or people helping them as the government prepares to face threats from ” foreign intelligence agencies and enemy forces.A representative of the State Security Ministry told the Legal Daily newspaper.According to Reuters.
“The formulation of measures helps to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the general public to support and assist the country’s security work for a greater unity of heart, morals, wisdom and strength of the people,” the spokesperson told Legal Daily.
The plan will only apply to information provided, and citizens will have multiple ways to notify authorities, including sending advice online, showing up in person, calling the national security hotline, or sending emails, the CNN.
If more than one person submits the same information, the prize will be awarded to the person who first appears, but others may offer something in return, according to Reuters.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has become more authoritarian and wary of outside influence. In 2015, for example, China set up a hotline for people to report spy suspicions, and a few years later, an unofficial post outlining the characteristics spread widely on social media. of the identity of the spies, said. CNN. Qualifications include employment of a person, including foreign correspondents or employees of non-governmental organizations.
The term “hostile forces” used to describe threats to the government’s reward system may also include Chinese citizens who criticize the government.
Hong Kong also intends to renew the “anti-violence hotline”, a press release published on the Hong Kong police website. Authorities launched the hotline in 2019 following protests over a national security law imposed by Beijing.
Police demonstrated their success and said “the hotline has addressed many messages from enthusiastic citizens”.
“After the National Security Act came into force in mid -2020, Hong Kong law and public order generally regained stability,” the press release read. “However, the police have noticed that the activities of local extremists have become more secretive and become more secretive.”
For this reason, police said the anti-violence hotline will be shifted to a counter-terrorism hotline run by the Inter-agency Counter-Terrorism Unit, urging citizens to report violence and related activities. to terrorism around them, and “in particular. Extremist schemes. “
“To encourage the public, the police plan to pay a reward for those who provide reliable information on terrorism,” the statement said.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.