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> nothing hypocritical about it at all. If a U.S. citizen leaks secret U.S. information, it is by law, treason. If a not U.S. citizen does it is by law, espionage, period.
Then when North Koreans accuse a citizen of breaking the law and they throw them in jail, it is OK. After all, if the law of that country says that it is espionage, then it is, and the opinion of other countries does not count. When Americans complain about dissidents being jailed, by North Korean law definitions they are criminals, then North Korea is justified in its actions. Free speech is meaningless then when the law says that something is espionage.
> I live in the USA. Why should I care if the secrets of China are exposed?
That is precisely my point. The only reason why Wikileaks is being prosecuted is because they exposed western interests. If they had exposed somebody else's interests, the American government would not care. Wikileaks has committed a crime by exposing information that Americans consider secret and dangerous.
What about defectors from North Korea or Iran then? I guess it is justified to defend them. It is a nice, hypocritical double standard. Like the standard that says that it is OK for western powers to have the biggest arsenals of WMDs while giving smaller countries a hard time for pursuing the same WMDs that western powers refuse to give up.
What we call national security and "the law" then reduces itself to hypocritical double standards. We can spy on others, but others cannot spy on us. We can expose the secrets of others, but others cannot expose our own. We can have WMDs, but others can't. We can carry preeemptive attacks on others, but others cannot carry them against us. We can drop bombs with drone planes on others, but others cannot do it to us. We give ourselves all these rights, but refuse to accept that other could do the same. Our enemies have criminal spies, we have heroic spies. We are ALWAYS right, they are always wrong. Those who expose us as being otherwise are nothing but criminals and spies.