In the short movie released by China's Ministry of State Security on November 24, 2023, an overseas organization installed data collectors in a village in China's western border region for espionage purposes. Photo: snapshot from the short movie.

 
China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) revealed how an overseas organization installed numerous data collectors for espionage purposes in China's border area under the guise of business cooperation by releasing a short film adapted from multiple real-life cases on Friday morning.

In tribute to the classic movie "Visitors On The Icy Mountain" which tells the story of how Chinese soldiers fought against spies in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1950s, the MSS released the short movie "A New Arrival On The Iceberg" on its WeChat account on Friday to show how "new visitors" made a comeback to threaten China's national interest.

In the movie, a medical team, which was conducting free physical examinations for people in a remote village in China's western border region, raised concerns among the local villagers as the medical team took more blood during the physical examination than usual and the medical team was neither sent by the local health bureau or the county hospital, but arranged under the so-called international aid program.

Following the investigation, domestic national security agencies found that the free physical examination was carefully arranged by a foreign organization who organized agents in China to help steal genetic data.

However, the theft of genetic data is for diverting the attention of the security authority and is just the tip of the iceberg of a large-scale data espionage operation conducted by the foreign organization. The village where the free physical examination was conducted, as well as several other villages nearby were located near an important test site in western China. They thus were chosen as targeted places for spies to install data collectors.

Thanks to tip-offs from local villagers, security authorities found numerous data collecting equipment which could send the collected data overseas once the devices are networked and activated.

At the end of the movie, despite that the leakage of relevant data was stopped and the people employed by the foreign organization were arrest, the boss of the organization, who was still at large, said "the battle against China is enduring. We'll have other chances even if we fail this time." 

The ministry emphasized that the movie was adapted from multiple real-life cases, warning that some countries have been stealing data from various sectors and industries in China, severely damaging national security, as data has become fundamental and strategic resource. 

Quoting relevant requirements in China's Counter-Espionage Law, Biosecurity Law, Data Security Law, and Measures for the Administration of Foreign-related Meteorological Sounding and Information, the ministry called on the public to seek assistance and report the suspicious situations that may threaten national security to the authority through a dedicated  hotline, official website and public WeChat account.