Update: PRC state secrets implementing regulations released in February 2014

Chapter 9 update: In February 2014, the Chinese government released its long-awaited new Implementation Regulation for its State Secrets Law, revised in 2010. Issued by the State Council and effective on 1 March 2014, the regulations instructed PRC officials to avoid labelling as state secrets information and documents that should be made available to the public. The regulations offered little clarity as to what constituted a state secret even as they addressed the need to enhance secrecy protection systems; thus the impact of the regulations was not immediately clear. The State Secrets Implementation Procedures issued in 1990 were repealed. Chinese language text of the regulations can be found here and English translation can be found here. (For more discussions of state secrets, see Chapter 9, pages 205-207 of the book.)