China's principal intelligence agency Monday warned air passengers against opening window shades during take-off and landing to take photos at dual-use civil-military airports, according to a media report, following an incident wherein a foreigner was caught taking pictures with a mobile phone.
In a post on its official WeChat account, the Ministry of State Security urged passengers to follow the instructions and keep window shades down during takeoff, landing, and taxiing at these dual airports, the South China Morning Post based in Hong Kong reported. It has explicitly told passengers that they are not allowed at will to take any photos or videos and then upload them onto the internet, citing the global practice of keeping military facilities secret.
The advisory was issued after a recent incident involving one foreigner, though the ministry did not go into details of the case.
Citing local media, earlier this month, on a flight from Yiwu to Beijing, a foreign national took pictures of a joint-use airport with a mobile phone. Another passenger saw it and reported the activity. The local officials in turn informed the police.
“Safeguarding national security is the responsibility and duty of every citizen. Unauthorised filming of military facilities and equipment poses a serious threat to national security,” the ministry said, calling on the public to cooperate to ensure security and secrecy of airports for both military and civilian use.
According to the WeChat post by the ministry, nearly a third of China's airports are joint-use facilities that contain a huge amount of military equipment. Passengers are banned from taking pictures in sensitive military areas of the airport. Some of these airports could be used not only for civil aviation but also for regular air force training; during wartime, they would be available for military use. Large numbers of them are located in coastal and border regions, enjoying strategic positions and huge military value.
It has been reported that China is augmenting the security of its military facilities amidst growing strategic tensions with the US and its allies over the South China Sea and Taiwan.
China claims most of the South China Sea and considers Taiwan its own land, vowing to recover it at all costs. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also claimed parts of the South China Sea.
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