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during the national security education day on april 15 this year, the national security authorities disclosed a case in which a foreign company illegally collected and stole state secrets in the rare earth field. under the command of foreign employees, ye, a chinese employee of the company, bribed cheng, the deputy general manager of a domestic rare earth company, to spy on and illegally provide seven confidential state secrets for foreign countries. in november 2023, the intermediate people's court of nanchang city, jiangxi province, sentenced ye to 11 years in prison for the crime of buying and illegally providing state secrets abroad, and sentenced cheng to 11 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of illegally providing state secrets abroad and the crime of accepting bribes.

using trade cooperation as a cover

in 2017, ye moumou visited a rare earth company in china on behalf of a foreign nonferrous metal company and got acquainted with cheng mou, the then business section chief. as they were of similar age, the two quickly became acquainted. since then, cheng mou has also visited overseas for return visits accompanied by ye moumou many times.

after that, as the working relationship became increasingly close, ye frequently asked cheng for data related to the rare earth industry on the grounds that it was necessary for cooperation with overseas clients. in order to "maintain customer relationships", cheng, knowing the risk of leaking secrets, still took a chance and provided data to ye as requested again and again.

bundled by economic interests

as cheng was promoted from business section chief to business department manager, and then to deputy general manager, he realized that his "value" was getting higher and higher, and his desire for money was getting stronger and stronger. so he took the initiative to propose to cooperate with ye to earn the difference in rare earth trade through the participation of a third-party company. the other party thought for a moment and agreed. cheng received half of the profit alone. in exchange, cheng continued to provide ye with inside information about the rare earth industry. before the incident, cheng had earned a total of about us$510,000 from a foreign non-ferrous metal company by collecting cash and remittances from abroad, most of which was used for his wife and daughter's expenses abroad.

focus on the core insider

rare earths are widely used in cutting-edge science and technology and military fields, and are an indispensable element in modern industry. thanks to its rich resource reserves, advanced smelting and separation technology, complete industrial chain, and a complete strategic reserve system, my country's rare earth industry has taken the lead in the world's rare earth industry and has formed resource advantages and industrial chain advantages worldwide.

foreign countries pay close attention to my country's rare earth storage situation and try every means to obtain our internal data. if rare earth data is leaked, it will affect the advantages of our rare earth industry and even make my country subject to others in the international strategic game. in this case, a foreign nonferrous metal company learned the time of my country's rare earth storage bidding meeting through various channels, and immediately instructed ye to ask cheng for specific data after the meeting. as an insider of the rare earth industry, cheng has mastered the latest situation of rare earth storage and has become a long-term and stable source of secrets for the other party.

national security agency tips

the crime of stealing, spying, buying, and illegally providing state secrets and intelligence for overseas purposes is a crime that seriously endangers national security.

article 111 of the criminal law of the people's republic of china stipulates that anyone who steals, spys, buys, or illegally provides state secrets or intelligence for foreign institutions, organizations, or individuals shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years; if the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment; if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, controlled release, or deprivation of political rights.

any citizen or organization that discovers espionage activities should promptly report them to the national security authorities. if you discover any illegal activities or suspicious clues that endanger national security, please promptly report them through the 12339 national security agency reporting hotline, the online reporting platform, the national security ministry wechat official account reporting channel, or directly to the local national security authorities.