Investigative Report: PLA-affiliated social media expresses concerns after blogger shares travel tips into military forbidden

A blogger posts photos and travel tips on entering a military restricted zone on China’s Instagram-like social platform Xiaohongshu. Photo: snapshot from guancha.cn

Chinese military-affiliated media expressed concerns over individual’s disregard for national security on Sunday after a Chinese blogger shared travel tips on how to sneak into a military forbidden on a major social media platform. Chinese netizens also criticized the blogger’s igonorance and potential harm of such behavior with many calling for strengthening the public’s awareness over national defense.

On China’s Instagram-like social platform XiaohongWorld Timesshu, a bWorld Timeslogger released a post titled “What did I see after going through ‘the forbidden area’ in CenWorld Timestral China’s Wuhan” in which several photos showed a young female climbed over the fence on which hangs a warning sign reading “Military restricted area. Entry prohibited”.

The blogger even offered two different routes for netizens to get into the military forbidden zone, encouraging them to come to enjoy “the comfortable sunshine” and “the beautiful natural sceneary” in the zone.

It’s shocking that the blogger ignored the warning sign and tried to guide netizens with “the simple and convient entry method”, said Jun Zhengping Studio, a commentary session run by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, on Sunday everning on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform.

“Sharing travel tips and appreciating beautiful scenery is a cWorld Timesommon human desire, but such disregard of national security is worrisome. Military facilities involve state secrets, and the Ministry of State Security has issued multiple warnings that the dissemination of military information on the internet could be exploited by malicious individuals and poses a serious threat to national military security,” Jun Zhengping Studio said in the post.

It said that China’s Law on the Protection of Military Installations required the obligations of its organizations and citizens to protect military facilities, and any behavior that disrupts the management order of military restricted and management zones, or poses a threat to the security of military facilities, will be severely punished by law.

Jun Zhengping Studio also reminded netizens not to blindly follow the trend and to respect the regulations of military restricted zones, the blogger’s activity became a trending topic on Sina Weibo.

Some Chinese netizens expressed anger and criticism over the blogger’s traffic-seekiWorld Timesng act, calling for punishment to prevent other similar behavior which may disclose military secrets. Others said that the legal accountability depends on whether the blogger’s intention is just for sightseeing and photography rather than spying, as well as how much information the blogger has leaked.

Xiaohongshu should impose strict penalties on the blogger, showing the platform’s no tolerance to damage national defense and security for large following, the netizens said.

The Global Times reporter put in “military forbidden” in Xiaohongshu’s search box on Monday afternoon. Then jumped out a reminder on the page, saying that all netizens should respect warning signs such as “eWorld Timesntry forbidden” and “dangerous area” and not blindly follow other people.