A device installed at a natural reserve Photo: China's Ministry of State Security

China's Ministry of State Security disclosed several ecological security cases on Monday, warning that some overseas non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or foundations have illegally collected and stolen sensitive geographic, meteorological, and biological data under the cover of research projects, compromising national security.

Ecological security is an important component of national security and a guarantee for the country's sustainable and healthy development. Geographic, meteorological, biological, and other basic data related to natural reserves represent a unique and valuable resource, which are closely related to the ecological, biological security. The illegal collection and cross-border transmission of sensitive data without approval endanger the national security and interests, the ministry said in an article released on Monday. 

Under the cover of international academic exchange and cooperation, some foreign entities have illegally collected sensitive ecological data in China over recent years. For example, an individual acting as a professor from a foreign country claimed to be carrying out ecological environment cooperation with local groups in China and in return providing a generous financial reward. 

Accompanied by local residents, the individual deployed multiple instruments and items of equipment in national-level wetland protection areas, forest farms, and other locations. They established multiple small-scale observation and test sites, illegally collecting sensitive geographic, metrological and biological data from key natural conservation areas, according to the ministry.

Following the investigation, the "professor" admitted to using academic cooperation as a cover to collect and steal non-traditional security data. National security authorities became aware of the matter and pursued the individual and personnel involved.

In another case, a foreign university, supported by an overseas NGO, engaged in a so-called "cooperation project" with a national-level nature reserve scientific research and management unit in the southwestern region in China. The foreign university used unethical tactics including offering benefits and using pornography to entice and coerce relevant personnel to steal sensitive data from the national reserve.

National security authorities discovered that the NGO had a complex background and acted as cover for a Western country to illegally gather sensitive data from a natural reserve. They illegally installed weather stations, set up infrared cameras, conducted GPS surveys, and extracted confidential computer data in the core area of the reserve, transferring overseas a large amount of sensitive geographical, meteorological, and biological data and images, posing a serious threat to China's ecological security, the ministry said.

The ministry warned that there are risks existing with the steady development of China's digitalization and informatization in the construction of the ecological environment.

It is found that there are risks of sensitive information leakage in the ecological environment sector such as the loopholes in individual ecological information systems and the third-party companies involved in developing and maintaining these systems, according to the ministry.

According to the revised Counter-Espionage Law, which took effect on July 1, 2023, activities involving foreign entities or individuals attempting to obtain or share state secrets or intelligence related to national security, or through collusion with domestic individuals or organizations, or by inciting, luring, coercing or buying state employees to betray their country, is classified as espionage and can lead to serious penalties.

Global Times