National security education in spotlight as new semester begins

Activities held around nation to raise anti-espionage awareness of students

The new school year started this week across the country with national security education classes, in a bid to raise awareness among young people.

In Shanghai, a group of more than 500 students from No 2 High School of East China Normal University visited the city's national security education base on Aug 25.

Located in Shanghai's Qingpu district and designed in the shape of an aircraft carrier, the base covers an exhibition area of 2,500 square meters. Opening to the public in 2003, it has received over 1.4 million teenage students over the past two decades.

The base showcases China's latest theories, efforts, achievements and many practical cases of the nation's fight safeguarding national security.

It enables the teenagers to learn how espionage works and what intelligence agencies do in order for them to be vigilant and protect the nation's security.

China's Anti-Espionage Law took effect on July 1 after being amended. Earlier this month, China's Ministry of State Security announced that an espionage case involving the CIA in the United States had been successfully cracked.

The base has been exploring innovative ways to popularize national security education among teenagers. Last year, the base rolled out a special episode of Black Cat Detective, a popular cartoon series in China that aired for five seasons from 1984 to 1987. It tells the story of the black cat detective joining hidden fronts and fighting to guard their world's security and stability with his friends.

In Jiangsu province, demonstration classes on national security have been introduced on campuses.

At Xiamen University in Fujian province, special live action role-playing games are on show. With the university as a backdrop and originally created by the students, these games feature a simulated spy game focusing on safeguarding national security.

"Through the role-playing game, we realized that national security is not an abstract concept, but is closely related to our daily lives. While enjoying the peace brought by the unsung heroes, we ourselves should also actively participate in the practice of maintaining national security," said a student surnamed Duan from the university.

In Guangdong province, national security education has been promoted on public transport. Many of the province's domestic flights, high-speed trains and buses have liveries saying "Guoanhao", meaning good national security.

In Jilin province, promotional events and a signature wall have been introduced to explain the meaning of national security.

In Guizhou province, which has many ethnic group populations, local authorities carried out national security education activities mixed with ethnic flair and local cultural customs.

"Strengthening the people's awareness of national security is an essential and long-term measure for safeguarding national security," according to a post published on the official WeChat account of the Ministry of State Security.

wangxin2@chinadaily.com.cn