China’s Ministry of State Security has threatened Chinese citizens that they could be “invited to tea” in ten situations it has defined. Political analysts see this as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to further consolidate its power in response to a deepening crisis of its governance amid ongoing economic woes.
An “invitation to tea” is a Chinese Internet buzzword that refers to interrogations or investigations conducted into citizens by state security or public security forces.
On Jan. 30, the Ministry of National Security published an article on its public WeChat account with the title, “Follow the advice, don’t let the national security authorities invite you to drink these ‘ten cups of tea,’” listing ten situations: suspicion of espionage or assisting in intelligence, violation of construction project permits, refusal to cooperate with espionage investigations, unlawful acquisition or possession of state secrets, unlawful production, sale, possession, and use of espionage equipment, disclosure of state secrets for counterespionage and intelligence work, and violation of exit restrictions.
“The so-called ‘‘ten cups of tea’ is essentially a tremendous potential infringement on the space for people’s thought, undermining civil liberties and human rights,” said Ming Zheng (a pseudonym), a senior lawyer in mainland China.
“This would lead to an abuse of power, as it leaves much room for arbitrary maneuvers; the executive and the judiciary are empowered to extend the scope of the law at will and to give an arbitrary character to the application of the law,” Mr. Ming told The Epoch Times on Feb.3.
Moreover, “Chinese citizens could be easily accused of such charges, for example, what is a state secret, how is it defined, and who explains it?” Mr. Ming pointed out the broad, vague wording that puts everyone at risk.
According to Mr. Ming, from the national security law in Hong Kong in June 2020 to the revised version of China’s Anti-Spy Law, which came into force on July 1, 2023, then to the recent “Ten Cups of Tea,” the CCP has increasingly tightened its grip on the Chinese people.
“It is more a reflection of CCP’s crisis of governance,” said Mr. Ming, citing the communist regime’s fears of public anger, grievances, and social unrest that the economic recession could potentially trigger.
A Shenzhen dissident, Lin Shengliang, who has fled the Netherlands, told The Epoch Times on Feb. 4 that one friend within the party system had received a warning from his boss when chatting with a colleague in the company about the poor economic environment. His boss warned him it would be a big problem if they were referred to the regime’s security authority.
The friend told Mr. Lin they don’t dare to discuss economic topics in their company because they don’t know which words may lead them to be “invited to tea.” They must even scatter after work to avoid private meetings and chatting.
Prohibition On Speaking of China’s Economic Downtown
As China’s economy plummeted, CCP’s state security body expanded its functions into the financial and economic spheres, repeatedly claiming to crack down on those who speak of China’s economic downturn.
In December 2023, after the Central Committee’s Economic Work Conference closed in Beijing, the Ministry of State Security published an article slamming unfavorable comments on foreign investment and private enterprise policies as “disrupting market expectations and order and stifling the upward trend of China’s economy.”
Some academics’ articles on China’s economic downturn have been swiftly deleted, and even experts’ social media accounts have been restricted.
In November 2023, Liu Jipeng, director of the Institute of Capital Finance at the China University of Political Science and Law, said publicly that “The prominence of personal power is not conducive to the healthy development of the capital market” during an annual economic conference held by Chinese internet giant NetEase, suggesting that shareholders should wait as it’s not the right time to get into the market.
Mr. Liu also said in December that China’s market is an “unfair distribution of wealth and lack of justice.”
His statements attracted the attention of the regime’s national security services. Soon after, his Douyin (China’s TikTok) and Headline accounts were banned from being followed, and on Dec. 7, 2023, Mr. Liu announced his resignation.
On Dec. 26, 2023, Li Xunlei, vice chairman of the Chinese Chief Economists Forum, published an article in First Financial News mentioning that the survey data released by the China Income Distribution Research Institute of Bejing Normal University in 2021 indicated that about 964 million Chinese people have a monthly income of less than 2,000 yuan ($278).
The article was subsequently deleted; the data quickly circulated on Weibo but soon disappeared.
Caixin Weekly’s Dec. 25, 2023 editorial insinuated the current situation by quoting former CCP leader Deng Xiaoping, saying that reform and opening up should rely on seeking truth from facts. The editorial referred to the fact that during the Cultural Revolution, when the national economy was on the verge of collapse, the official government still insisted that “the situation was sound and getting better,” but in reality, the country was poor and backward, with its people’s livelihoods withering and being “left far behind” by neighboring countries and regions.
Charges of ‘Espionage’
As China expands its definition of espionage following amendments to the Anti-Spy Law, authorities have increased scrutiny of consulting and advisory firms with foreign connections.In November 2023, U.S.-based pollster Gallup withdrew from China in response to increasingly harsher Chinese censorship and geopolitical risk.
Chinese state media bashed Gallup as “a tool to contain China and maintain U.S. dominance” after Gallup’s global polls showed a slide in foreigners’ favorable opinion of China.
Last year, Chinese police also raided the Shanghai office of Bain & Company, a U.S. management consulting firm, and the Beijing office of Mintz Group.
Infuriated Chinese Investors
The year 2024 ushered in a worsening Chinese stock market, with 5,200 stocks falling on Feb. 2 and the Shanghai Stock Exchange Index dropping below 2,700 points, leaving many shareholders destitute overnight.Ironically, the same day, CCP’s mouthpiece, People’s Daily, released an article titled “The whole country is full of optimism and positivity,” which aroused public anger.
Due to the silencing of negative remarks on the stock market on Weibo, Chinese stockholders flooded the comment section of the official microblog of the U.S. Embassy in China, leaving messages like “hoping the U.S. will save the A-share market.”
While Shanghai’s A-share market is bottoming out, India’s stock market has risen above 72,000 points, overtaking Hong Kong’s stock market to become the world’s fourth-largest by the start of 2024.
Accordingly, Chinese stockholders flocked to the comments section of the Indian Embassy in China’s official Weibo account. One reads, “The Indian stock market is a god, the Chinese stock market is scum.”
According to Tang Jingyuan, an expert on China, the “Ten Cups of Tea” introduced by the Ministry of State Security is a set of ten measures to tighten control over Chinese society. The CCP uses the “Ten Cups of Tea” to dramatically expand and generalize the definitions of national security and state secrets.
Mr. Tang believes that Xi has lost confidence in boosting China’s economy, and he does not intend to use the market economy to revive China’s economy, so he has shifted his focus to social stability.
A lousy economy will lead to higher unemployment and more social unrest. Under such circumstances, he needs to strengthen stability most, so he has introduced the “Ten Cups of Tea.”
“In return, Xi has already prepared for this, and the economy will not improve.”
“It will force the public to develop a profound sense of fear, and everyone will have to carry out self-censorship in an even more stringent manner, which will inevitably lead to a situation of strict control in which everyone is in fear,” he said.
