National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets

The National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets of the People's Republic of China (NAPSS; Chinese: 中共中央保密委员会办公室; pinyin: zhōnggòng zhōngyāng bǎomì wěiyuán huìbàn gōngshì; literally "Office of the CPC Central Committee Security Committee"; Chinese: 国家保密局; pinyin: guójiā bǎomì jī; literally "State Secrecy Bureau") is an institution of the State Council of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for the protection of classified information.^[1] There also exists the Central Committee for the Protection of State Secrets, a subordinate organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.^[2]

Overview

Main article: Classified information: People's Republic of China

The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (which is not operative in the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao) makes it a crime to release a state secret. Under the 1989 "Law on Guarding State Secrets,"^[3] state secrets are defined as those that concern:

1. Major policy decisions on state affairs;
2. The building of national defence and in the activities of the armed forces;
3. Diplomatic activities and in activities related to foreign countries and those to be maintained as commitments to foreign countries;
4. National economic and social development;
5. Science and technology;
6. Activities for preserving state security and the investigation of criminal offences; and
7. Any other matters classified as "state secrets" by the national State Secrets Bureau.^[2]

Secrets can be classified into one of three categories:

• Top secret (绝密): Defined as "vital state secrets whose disclosure would cause extremely serious harm to state security and national interests";
• Highly secret (机密): Defined as "important state secrets whose disclosure would cause serious harm to state security and national interests"; and
• Secret (秘密): Defined as "ordinary state secrets whose disclosure would cause harm to state security and national interests".^[2]

References

1. ^ Richburg, Keith B. (5 July 2010), China sentences American geologist to 8 years for stealing state secrets, Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/05/AR2010070500859.html 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Translation per Human Rights in China, State Secrets: China's Legal Labyrinth, (2007).
3. ^ Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, "Law on Guarding State Secrets" (中华人民共和国保守国家秘密法), promulgated 1988 and effective 1989.