Disclosure by Supreme People's Procuratorate offers rare glimpse into scale of charges mainly relating to espionage and subversionHowever, percentage of those indicted of such crimes remains a fraction of total criminal indictments, SPP deputy director Sun Qian clarifiesMore than 1,400 charges related to endangering state security were laid in the last five years, China's top prosecutorial agency said on Wednesday, offering a rare glimpse into the scale of such indictments.Past disclosures by the Supreme People's Procuratorate only provided the total number of criminal indictments, with no specific data offered on state security charges - which usually relate to the Chinese Communist Party's efforts against espionage and subversion, with trials mostly held behind closed doors.Preventing and identifying acts that endanger national and public security was the top priority of prosecutors, SPP deputy director Sun Qian said in announcing the case data for 2018-2022.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.Another 435,000 cases relating to endangering public security were tried in the same period, he added.
"In terms of prosecutions against endangering national security and public security, [the prosecutors aim to] severely punish crimes of infiltration, subversion and secession and we focus on enhancing our ability to prevent and spot these crimes," Sun told a press conference in Beijing.
However, the percentage of those indicted of such crimes remains relatively low, he clarified.
Defendants charged with endangering national security made up just 0.03 per cent of total criminal indictments in the past five years, Sun said. Those charged with endangering public security represented 6.3 per cent.
However, the total number of criminal prosecutions rose by 9.5 per cent from the previous five years, to 5.83 million cases between 2018 and 2022,