WeChat is similar to the popular US-based mobile messaging serviceWhatsApp, but it does more. An amalgamation of social media tools akin to Twitter, Facebook and Skype, it comes in eight languages including English, Arabic and Russian.

[...] Hu Jia, a human rights activist jailed for three years on a charge of sedition, suspects that voicemail messages to his friends had been listened to by guobao officials (internal security bureau).

“I took a chance and assumed WeChat was relatively safe,” he said. “It’s a new product and not developed by China Mobile or China Unicom, [two of China's main telecoms companies], which have been monitoring my calls and text messages for over 10 years. But the guobao surprised me with their ability to repeat my words or voice messages verbatim, though I’m sure I only sent them to some friends through WeChat.”

[...] Adam Segal, a Council on Foreign Relations cyber-security expert, said that WeChat was not alone in offering potential security loopholes. “Information technology services and software are all fundamentally insecure,” he said. “WeChat shouldn’t be singled out in this instance. Many technologies have some type of vulnerability, and a directed adversary can figure out vulnerabilities to exploit and gather intelligence.”

At Tech in Asia, Charles Custer discussed the other side of the coin:

That WeChat, like all domestic social media, poses a security risk to dissidents should not come as a surprise. Nor is it particularly surprising that countries like Taiwan are concerned about the potential security implications of the service. But interestingly, Chinese authorities see the service as something of a threat as well. On Sunday evening, state-run broadcaster CCTV ran a feature piece about the dangers of WeChat, focusing primarily on how its anonymity and location-reporting features can give criminals an easy in. For example, the report told the story of Xu Xiaohong, a single woman who was ultimately ambushed and murdered when a man she met on WeChat attempted to rob her. He knew where she was, and when she was going to be there, because of WeChat.

[...] Of course, any chat tool can be used to perpetrate fraud, robbery, and other crimes, and many Chinese commenters have already pointed out that the CCTV seems to be unnecessarily blaming WeChat for the faults of its users. And it’s worth mentioning that the app does have a warning message reminding users not to trust strangers when they first engage its find-users-in-my-vicinity feature. Still, though, it’s clear the location reporting has made a lot of people nervous. Expectations of privacy in China can be lower than they are in some Western countries (if you’ll forgive the sweeping generalization), so it is interesting to see that WeChat’s location-reporting unnerves both China’s dissidents and its police. The concerns of those groups don’t seem to have had much effect on regular users, though, who are still signing up at an impressive clip.

© Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Hu Jia, Internet privacy, Internet technology, social media, state security, tencent
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Two years ago, on June 4 — the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre and the most sensitive date in the Chinese political calendar — Ji Pomin received a text message from a high-placed friend: It said that former president Jiang Zemin had been taken to a military hospital in a critical condition. Ji fired off a coded message to hundreds of people in his address book to seek confirmation, asking: “The Supreme Old Master ascended to heaven?” Many of Ji’s politically connected friends forwarded the text to their friends, who misinterpreted the cryptic question as a statement. By June 6, overseas Chinese websites were reporting that former president Jiang Zemin was dead.

[...] A few days after Ji’s text message, he received a phone call from someone claiming to be from a parcel delivery service. They said the package was too big to fit down the lane in which he lived, so he walked to nearby Dongdan, one of Beijing’s busiest shopping areas, to collect it. Standing there, he said, in the blind spot between two security cameras outside an upmarket wedding photography store, were two burly men. They pulled a cloth hood over Ji’s head and bundled him into a car.

[...] The daylight abduction of a princeling like Ji, in downtown Beijing, shows just how delicate the subject of elite politics has become. That Ji wasn’t tortured, that he felt emboldened to speak his mind, and that his captors politely drove him back to where they found him two days later, shows the privileges afforded by his status. The secret police had originally lured him out on to the street, says Ji, so they would not disturb his then 86 year-old mother, who had joined the revolutionary struggle with his father at the age of 14 in 1938. By contrast, Ji says they ransacked the homes of several people who received his message. And a historian whose work had influenced Ji’s negative views on Jiang was reportedly arrested and convicted of subversion in May 2011.

See more on “princelings“ and illegal detentions via CDT.

© Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: illegal detentions, Jiang Zemin, kidnapping, princelings, rumors, stability maintenance, state security
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The official, an aide to a vice minister in China’s security ministry, was arrested and detained early this year on allegations that he had passed information to the United States for several years on China’s overseas espionage activities, said three sources, who all have direct knowledge of the matter.

The aide had been recruited by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and provided “political, economic and strategic intelligence”, one source said, though it was unclear what level of information he had access to, or whether overseas Chinese spies were compromised by the intelligence he handed over.

The case could represent China’s worst known breach of state intelligence in two decades and its revelation follows two other major public embarrassments for Chinese security [the cases of Wang Lijun and Chen Guangcheng], both involving U.S. diplomatic missions at a tense time for bilateral ties.

The New York Times gave further details of the growing pressure facing China’s colossal security apparatus:

A senior [Obama] administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities, said the detention came during the same period as a series of investigations begun after the revelations in the Bo affair. The investigations, authorized by China’s top leaders, have expanded beyond Mr. Bo to the Ministry of State Security and now include allegations of improper use of the security services by various Chinese officials and corruption, the official said.

It was not clear that the espionage case was related in any way to the other investigations.

“There is clearly some very intense stuff going on with the security ministry,” the official said. “It’s hard to tell exactly, but it’s clearly maneuvering going on after Bo.”

Both China’s State Security Ministry and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have declined to comment on the case, with Clinton reiterating the importance of a harmonious broader relationship over any particular incident. From Reuters:

“The goal for our relationship with China is to ensure that we defy history,” Clinton said. “It has never happened that an established, preeminent power, and a rising power, have been able to find a way to not only coexist but cooperate … We intend to make history with our relationship with China.”

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, CIA, espionage, Hillary Clinton, spy, state security, Wang Lijun
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While Chan’s report paints a dark picture of the reality facing a number of unknown prisoners in China, a China Daily piece on Monday claims that the draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law, which was submitted late last week for a vote at China’s National People’s Congress, will give suspects greater protection. Caixin Online has more on the details of the draft law:

The draft law, which includes 99 items, covers human rights protections, standards for witness testimony and evidence-gathering. The law was approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on March 10, with 168 votes in favor, one abstention and one dissenting vote. Another vote by the National People’s Congress is scheduled to be held on March 14 and the law is expected to be implemented in 2013.

The amendments provoked criticism from several quarters of China’s legal profession, with much of the scrutiny falling on the substance of Article 73 of the draft law.

Under the “residential surveillance” provision, law enforcement agencies will be permitted to detain individuals away from home for an unspecified amount of time. Article 73 of the draft law confers the government the right to detain individuals if they are suspected of involvement in cases related to national security, terrorism or corruption.

Netizens were ablaze with chatter over the new law. One wrote, “These stand as mere slogans on human rights but are ultimately a means to expand police powers,” said a netizen.

Over the weekend, Seeing Red in China’s Yaxue Cao translated and posted a number of Sina Weibo comments in response to the proposed law:

Mar. 9 03:49 Sina Weibo  Repost(4504) Comment(1080)

• 天勇律师江 /Lawyer Jiang Tianyong/(renowned human rights lawyer)/:  Last year, a friend of mine disappeared for two months. Family and friends looked for him everywhere, reported to the police, but didn’t find him. Two months later he returned, his wife received a dozen or so photographs of him with women in bed. The couple fought and filed for divorce. His younger brother was fired from his job for no particular reasons. He told me later that, over the two months, he was repeatedly beaten and 14 times he lost consciousness. Sometimes he was given only one piece of bread to eat in three days. Other times, he was forced to be in bed with a woman and embrace her….What kind of country is this?

Mar. 9 04:41 Sina Weibo  Repost(1333) Comment(427)

• 文涛‏@wentommy/(former reporter with Global Times English edition, fired for reporting on a protest led by Ai Weiwei against forced demolition of an art area in Beijing by unidentified thugs in 2010 ) /: I once had a respectable job, [my history ] was rather clearly defined, and I was lawful in both my private and public life. But even I was detained for 83 days for I don’t know whatever reason. Not a single organization, nobody, not even Taliban, has claimed responsibility for my detention. When endorsing the new revisions to the Criminal Procedure Law, legislators believe they are fighting against the enemies of the state, but pretty soon, they will find the enemies are none other than themselves. The worst time is when no one feels safe. And don’t laugh—we’re all in it.

See also this week’s cartoon for Hexie Farm‘s CDT series, which responds to the proposed changes in the Criminal Procedure Law.

© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: black jails, criminal procedure law, detention, National People's Congress, Politburo Standing Committee, state security
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What happened next was not surprising, but on this day, felt particularly ironic: plainclothes police officers prevented us from interviewing Pu on camera, even as we explained to them that this new legislation would curtail their state security powers.

The language used by the officers, who refused to identify themselves, might also be interesting to those unfamiliar with this kind of state apparatus: Orwellian, wrapped in code, and offering our crew “recommendations” that if disobeyed, could have meant some physical confrontation from the two men in sunglasses who were called up for reinforcement during the following exchange.

She then recounts the exchange between herself, the officers [PO] and Pu Zhiqiang:

AJE: This is a law about security, terrorism, and the handling of general criminal suspects. This law can be quite an improvement on things –

PO: Yes! Indeed, it is a huge reform. It’s a big improvement.

AJE: So … are you speaking in the capacity of a police officer?

PO: No, I’m … speaking in the capacity … as Mr. Pu’s … friend!

Pu Zhiqiang: You are not my friend. I adamantly, adamantly dispute that.

Pu Zhiqiang has defended many high-profile activists and dissidents, including artist Ai Weiwei. He is now providing counsel for Zhang Mingyu, a Chongqing businessman who was detained in Beijing after writing on his blog that he has inside information about the current political intrigue involving Bo Xilai, Wang Lijun, and the Chongqing mafia. For more on Zhang Mingyu, see a post from the Committee to Protect Journalists. For more on recent harassment of foreign journalists, see reports from Tibetan areas of Sichuan and from the scene of protests in Panhe, Guangdong.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: criminal procedure law, press freedom, pu zhiqiang, state security
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FAST COMPANY: Could you give a short rundown of China’s suspected role in cyberespionage of both governments and corporations?

ADAM SEGAL: A number of fairly well-publicized attacks on U.S. governments and corporate interests with codenames like “Titan Rain” have taken place. In many cases, attribution to China is fairly speculative. In the Google case, it was supposedly traced back by IP address but in many cases it’s fairly suspect. But they are motivated primarily by espionage reasons–both military and industrial–and also in some cases, by preparing the battlefield. Looking at potential targets that would be used in a military scenario in case there was, in fact, conflict.

As far as preparing the battlefield, do you think it is mostly organized by the government, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and groups like that, or is it just bored kids with some sort of connection to government?

Well, that’s the $64,000 question in the Chinese context. The question is who is responsible for these things, even if you trace it back to China, is if they are bored hackers or PLA members or criminals with ties to the PLA or PLA divisions acting criminally? We don’t really know. I suspect that the majority of the attacks and espionage on on the criminal side are by patriotic hackers that have some sort of connection, maybe financial, to the PLA or the State Security Ministry. In the cases of power grids and other cases like that, I suspect PLA affiliation, but there is no way to know.

Segal goes on to discuss the assumption in China that its systems have been compromised by American agencies, and the perception of Western corporations as “instruments of US policy”. This attitude arose recently in the Global Times’ argument that Cisco and HP should not be allowed to contribute to the controversial “Peaceful Chongqing” security program. Segal concludes that the China Model of internet security offers an attractive example to governments of other developing countries.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cyberespionage, cybernationalism, cybersecurity, Google, hackers, hacking, People's Liberation Army, power grid, state security
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Three men accused of “endangering state security” for their role in maintaining popular Uighur-language Web sites have been sentenced to prison terms of 3 to 10 years, according to exile groups and court officials.

The sentences, the outcome of a one-day trial last week, are the latest indication that Beijing is intensifying its crackdown on any dissent that questions Chinese rule in Xinjiang, the far western region where ethnic rioting last summer killed nearly 200 people, many of them Han Chinese whose growing numbers have stoked resentment among Uighurs.

Each of the accused men was the webmaster of a different site, all of which were shut down in the days after the unrest began in Urumqi, the regional capital. The three Web sites largely accommodated discourse in Uighur, a Turkic language.

Friends and family members of the three convicted webmasters say they were prosecuted for failing to quickly delete content that openly discussed the difficulties of life in Xinjiang and, in one case, for allowing users to post messages announcing the protests last summer that turned violent. Although the government maintains armies of paid censors, those who run Internet forums are ultimately responsible for removing so-called politically sensitive content.

The sentencing comes amidst news of a 15 year sentencing for Uighur journalist Heyrat Niyaz. Read more about the possible reasoning behind recent harsh sentences in Xinjiang at Far West China.

© Paulina Hartono for China Digital Times (CDT), 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: state security, Uyghurs
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The official newspaper, the Procuratorial Daily, which is published by the Chinese equivalent of the attorney general’s office, said that prosecutors in Xinjiang approved 1,295 arrests of individuals and indicted 1,154 of them. In total, there were 204 cases that were opened. The newspaper article was also posted on a Xinjiang government Web site, lending legitimacy to the statistics.

In 2007, the number of people arrested across all of China on suspicion of endangering state security was 742, according to government statistics. Prosecutors indicted 619 of them.

Of those total numbers, about half were from Xinjiang, said Nicholas Bequelin, a China researcher for Human Rights Watch, citing statistics from the Xinjiang Yearbook, a government publication of regional statistics. So the numbers reported on Sunday by the official newspaper are a vast increase over the numbers from 2007.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: state security, Xinjiang
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Zhou Shuguang, aka “Zola,” reports that he is home safe in Changsha after being detained in Shenyang, interrogated, made to write detailed reports on everybody he met and everything since arriving in Shenyang to blog about the Yilishen “ant-farmer” protests, had his ID and money confiscated, punched around the head and neck a little when he objected to being forced to return by air (and pay for his own ticket) rather than travel by train, and then escorted by two state security police on the plane back to Changsha. He has been told not to go far, that they hope he will focus on his vegetable-selling business, and to report to the local police if he needs to go anywhere. [Full Text]

© Liu Yong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: self-censorship, state security, Yilishen, Zuola
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The number of people arrested in China on charges of endangering national security more than doubled last year, a rights lobbying group reported Wednesday in a finding that underscores the communist government’s sustained clampdown on dissent.

The San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation said a recently published Chinese government yearbook showed that state security charges ” commonly used against political critics ” were filed against 604 people in 2006, compared with 296 the year before.

The state security arrests were the highest number since 2002, Dui Hua added.

Only a few of the highest profile prosecutions have been publicized, either by China’s government or rights groups, while more than 90 percent of the defendants were not publicly known, Dui Hua said. [Full Text]

Read also New Statistics Point to Dramatic Increase in Chinese Political Arrests in 2006 by Dui Hua Foundation.

© Liu Yong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dissidents, political prisoners, state security
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State Security Agents (State): You must be busy lately? Is the business doing well?

Ma: Enough of this. I heard from the “relevant departments” that people like us are not allowed to make big bucks. We’re just doing enough to make a living.

(...)
Read the rest of A Conversation Between the Ruler and the Ruled – Ma Shaofang (1,096 words)

© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dissidents, drinking tea, Ma Shaofang, police conversation, state security
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China’s courts were not idle in 2004. More than 800,000 people were arrested last year for endangering state security or for being involved in activities regarded as separatist, terrorist or extremist. In total, 811,102 people were held, an 8.3 per cent increase from 2003. The courts last year prosecuted 867,186 people in connection with those crimes.

In his annual report to the National People’s Congress (NPC), Jia Chunwang, head of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, said that security situation in 2004 was “grave” requiring continuous efforts to crackdown on criminal activities.

“[We were] resolute in smashing crimes which endanger state security and those criminal activities carried out by separatists, religious extremists and violent terrorists,” Mr Jia told NPC members.

(...)
Read the rest of SCMP: China arrests more than 800,000 people for endangering state security (70 words)

© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2005. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: NPC 2005, state security
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