Officials in China have been telling young people that spies or foreign powers could be out to trick them through casual activities like online dating and listening to pop music.
National authorities raised these red flags at least twice recently, amid a wider push from leader Xi Jinping to bolster Chinese national security by getting citizens to be more proactive.
The South China Morning Post reported that a new foundational textbook for college students warns them about pop culture and rock ‘n’ roll as oft-used tools for foreign subversion.
Per the outlet, the book on national security told readers to watch out for the internet as a “key channel of communication,” saying that “pop culture and rock music are often used as covers” for color revolutions.
Color revolutions generally refer to the Arab Spring and anti-government protests in post-Soviet states, and Beijing has for years accused the US of orchestrating them.
SCMP added that the book specifically warned of the Arab Spring as a particular period of upheaval.
This isn’t just any textbook. It’s the culmination of 10 years of Xi’s core committees organizing principles and ideas from Marxist theory for national security, according to state media, which called it the “first unified textbook” that explains the entire concept.
It was released on Thursday by the Ministry of Education.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of State Security has cautioned young people to beware of part-time job offers and online dating prospects that might be “secret-stealing traps” laid by foreign spies.
The idea here is that the spies target students in scientific research fields to trick them into revealing sensitive information or sending photos of classified sites.
“They may even disguise themselves as ‘handsome men’ or ‘beautiful women’ who are close friends, and drag young students into a false ‘love’ trap,” the ministry said in a social media post on Wednesday.
The ministry has, in recent months, intensified its public statements and instructions for civilians, telling people on August 15 to look out for pens, lighters, and even dragonflies that might be used as spy cameras.
A week later, it warned of “good-hearted” and “caring” people handing out money to the disadvantaged, saying they could be spies trying to curry favor with youngsters like “sheep in wolf’s clothing.”
“Their methods are despicable and have no bottom line,” the ministry said.
Officials have been habitually publicizing examples of close shaves with national security breaches, like in June, when the State Security Ministry detailed the story of a retiree who discovered tranches of military secrets being sold at a recycling store for less than $1.
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