Seen a Spy? With New Hotline, China Invites You to Call It In
To the tangle of emergency phone numbers in China — 110 for the police, 119 for fire, 120 for ambulance — add another: dial 12339 to report a spy.
The spy hotline made its debut in the northeastern province of Jilin on Sunday, according to a report in the state-controlled newspaper Jilin Daily, one year after the Chinese authorities introduced a new counterespionage law.
The hotline, run by the Jilin state security bureau, was set up to help citizens who encounter behavior that would harm China’s national security to report the matter immediately to state security organs, the Jilin Daily article said.
It warned of individuals or groups who “steal, pry out, buy or otherwise illegally obtain state secrets or intelligence, or conspire, coerce or pay government employees to become traitors.”
After repeated calls to the hotline on Monday, an officer finally picked up and answered a few basic questions about the service. He said the call, at 4:30 p.m., was the first of the day.
To report a spy, “tell us who he is, why you suspect him,” said the officer, who declined to give his name. “We’ll write everything down and report it to our supervisors. They will investigate the matter and get back to you.”
He said investigators would respond within a number of days, but that there was no reward.
A potential spy could be Chinese or foreign, and did not necessarily need to be an official. “Anyone can be a spy,” he said. “And anyone can also not be a spy.”
China does have a history, particularly during the Maoist era, of neighbors closely monitoring and reporting on each other. But before people rush to dial the spy hotline over the slightest suspicion, the authorities cautioned they weren’t looking for hearsay. The Jilin Daily warned that anyone responsible for “intentional fabrication, lies or false charges” would be punished.