The Communist Party of China is usually pretty good at keeping secrets until someone gets lazy with the shredder.
Chinese news websites have reported that a military history buff in China stumbled upon a juicy find when he bought four discarded books for less than $1 at a local recycling station.
They turned out to be confidential military documents.
The man, who only identified himself by his last name, Zhang, quickly turned himself in and didn't disclose the contents of the documents.
He definitely didn't want to mess around with Chinese government secrets.
China's Ministry of State Security shared the story on social media Thursday, giving a shout-out to the retired man for calling their hotline to report the discovery.
Mr. Zhang thought to himself that he had ‘bought' the country's military secrets and brought them home but if someone with ulterior motives were to buy them, the consequences would be unimaginable!
The post stated that Zhang is a former state company employee who enjoys collecting military newspapers and magazines. He found two bags of new books at the recycling station and bought four for just 6 yuan (about 85 cents). After Zhang reported his find, state security agents quickly headed to the station.
Their investigation revealed that two books ended up at a recycling station because two military employees got lazy and wanted to make a quick buck (or yuan.)
The two employees were supposed to shred over 200 books, but they sold them to a recycling center as paper waste. They got rid of 30 kilograms (65 pounds) of books for about 20 yuan ($2.75).
The state agents confiscated the books and stated that the military has since tightened its procedures for handling sensitive materials.
The thing about China is that even when they mess up, they will use it to instill fear in their citizens.
China's Ministry of State Security posted this story as part of a series that aims to raise awareness about national security, especially as tensions with the U.S. rise and worries about stealing or sharing secret information grow.
China's secretive state security and legal systems make it hard to know what actually counts as a state secret.
Recently, Chinese and foreign consultancies in the country have been investigated for having or sharing economic information, suggesting that the definition of a state secret has been broadened. China's government has fined an American research firm $1.5 million as part of a crackdown on information-gathering.
I wonder if anyone knows where Zhang is today or the whereabouts of those two employees who nearly exposed CCP military secrets ... 😬
Big yikes.
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