National Administration of State Secrets Protection

National Administration of State Secrets Protection
National Administration of State Secrets Protection
Simplified Chinese	国家保密局
Literal meaning	State Secret-Protecting Bureau
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Guójiā Bǎomì Jú
Office of the Central Secrecy Commission
Simplified Chinese	中央保密委员会办公室
Literal meaning	Central Secret-Protecting Commission Office
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhōngyāng Bǎomì Wěiyuánhuì Bàngōngshì

Office of the Central Secrecy Commission
中央保密委员会办公室
Agency overview
Parent agency	Central Secrecy Commission

National Administration of State Secrets Protection
国家保密局
	National Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	China
Headquarters	Beijing
Parent agency	State Council
Website	gjbmj.gov.cn

The National Administration of State Secret Protection (Chinese: 国家保密局; pinyin: Guójiā Bǎomì Jú) of the People's Republic of China is an institution of the State Council of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for the protection of classified information.^[1] The name was translated as National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets.

It is also the Office of the Central Secrecy Commission (Chinese: 中央保密委员会办公室; pinyin: Zhōngyāng Bǎomì Wěiyuánhuì Bàngōngshì), a subordinate organization of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.^[2]

Overview

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:

Major policy decisions on state affairs;
The building of national defence and in the activities of the armed forces;
Diplomatic activities and in activities related to foreign countries and those to be maintained as commitments to foreign countries;
National economic and social development;
Science and technology;
Activities for preserving state security and the investigation of criminal offences; and
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

^ Richburg, Keith B. (5 July 2010). "China sentences American geologist to 8 years for stealing state secrets". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Translation per Human Rights in China (pdf), State Secrets: China's Legal Labyrinth Archived 2017-11-18 at the Wayback Machine, (2007).
^ Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, "Law on Guarding State Secrets Archived 2010-09-27 at the Wayback Machine" (中华人民共和国保守国家秘密法), promulgated 1988 and effective 1989.