Global Courant
A year after the chips war between the US and China began in earnest and less than two months after the G7 countries’ May 7 decision to phase out China’s risks, Beijing has hit back with a new law.
Hastily passed legislation, which takes effect Saturday, empowers authorities to punish any organization or individual for committing “acts detrimental to China’s national interests.”
The foreign relations law is intended to issue a warning to Western countries promoting “decoupling” from China and disrupting international order, Chinese officials and legal experts said.
Some commentators say the vagueness of the language of the law that defines the crime may fuel concerns among China-based foreign companies about deteriorating relations between China and the United States. They note that moving to Singapore or Dubai could be a way to minimize geopolitical risk.
“The law enhances the relevant systems of our country’s foreign relations and demonstrates to the world our nation’s image as a responsible great country that promotes peace, development, cooperation and mutual success through the rule of law,” said an unnamed official of the National Committee on Legal Affairs of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress (NPCSC), said Thursday in an official message.
The official stressed that the passage of this law is not intended to establish a long-armed jurisdiction; China has already implemented the Unreliable Entity List in 2020 and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and the Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extra-territorial Application of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures in 2021.
The recently passed Foreign Relations Law is considered an improved version of the Law against foreign sanctionswhich was passed by the NPCSC on June 10, 2021.
On April 26 this year, Beijing also amended its anti-espionage law by extending the coverage of espionage costs from stealing “state secrets” to the theft of “all data and items related to national security”. The amended law also takes effect on Saturday.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement on April 28 that the amendment to China’s anti-intelligence law “is a matter of serious concern to the investor community and likely to their local business partners in China.”
‘Attitude on the table’
Place position on the table. Photo: Ranker
The NPCSC passed the Foreign Relations Act on Wednesday. The Global Times, the mouthpiece of a Chinese Communist Party, says in a editorial published on Friday that the new law aims to “put China’s attitude on the table.”
“As China moves ever closer to the center of the world, it has become more necessary to enact comprehensive foreign relations legislation,” it says. “China advocates the peaceful resolution of international disputes, opposes the use or threat of force in international relations, and rejects hegemonism and power politics.”
“Some hegemonic countries in the West pursue unilateralism and zero-sum game thinking, often using their national laws as a basis to impose unilateral sanctions and long-armed jurisdiction on the outside world,” said Huo Zhengxin, a professor at the Faculty of International Sciences. Law, The Chinese University of Political Science and Law said on Chinese central television.
“They used a number of so-called legal means to exert extreme pressure, build walls and barriers and promote disconnection, seriously endangering the sovereignty and interests of other countries and threatening the international order and global development,” it said. Huo.
Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi writes in a article published by the People’s Daily that by formulating the foreign relations law, China emphasized its opposition to all hegemonism and power politics, as well as unilateralism, protectionism and bullying. He says the law clearly spells out China’s countermeasures and restrictive measures to create deterrence.
Vague definition
According to Article 8 of the Foreign Relations Law, “any organization or individual who commits acts prejudicial to China’s national interests” will be punished.
Article 32 says that the state must take law enforcement, judicial or other measures in accordance with the law to protect its sovereignty, national security and development interests and to protect the legal rights and interests of Chinese citizens and organizations.
Article 33 says China has the right to take countervailing or restrictive measures against acts that endanger its sovereignty, national security and development interests in violation of international law or fundamental norms governing international relations.
Some experts say the law negatively impacts foreign investor sentiment because its broad language lacks clear definitions of offenses and penalties.
“The new law doesn’t appear to be a legal provision, but more of a political statement to the world,” said Dennis Weng, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Sam Houston State University. said in an interview with Taiwan’s TVBS. “Some people may feel it is a written expression of China’s ‘wolf-warrior’ diplomacy.”
Weng said the law could curtail Taiwan’s diplomatic space as some countries may have to think twice about establishing stronger ties with Taiwan and risk facing Beijing’s sanctions.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Chairman of Dezan Shira & Associates and Advisor to Foreign Investors in China, say in a research comment that the new law does not contain aspects that are detrimental to foreign companies and foreigners in China.
However, he adds that companies investing from the West (a reference to G7 countries) need to appreciate the political risk inherent in their own governments’ attitudes to China. He says some companies will try to maintain their presence in China’s markets by relocating to Singapore or Dubai, which are unlikely to impose sanctions on China.
On June 15, Siemens AG said it will build a new plant in Singapore for €200 million (US$218 million). According to media reports, Roland Busch, Chief Executive of Siemens, had initially favored China as the location for the new factory, but met resistance from Siemens’ supervisory board, which was concerned about rising geopolitical tensions.
Siemens China headquarters in Beijing. As it branch out in Singapore, the company is making sure to keep a significant number of eggs in its Chinese basket., Photo: Siemens
Official explanation
The unnamed NPCSC official quoted in the announcement said that by clearly establishing China’s diplomatic policy direction, the new law enables the world to better understand and trust China and encourages international cooperation – and said it implemented Party Secretary Xi Jinping’s “Thought on Socialism with Chinese”. Characteristics for a new era.”
The official said China has 297 laws on its books at the end of June, 52 of which specifically address foreign issues and 150 of which contain foreign-related clauses.
“Our foreign-related justice system still has some shortcomings, especially in protecting sovereignty, national security and development interests,” the official said, adding that the NPCSC spent less than a year preparing and approving the law on foreign relations.
That timeline suggests that the new law was initially seen as a response to the U.S. government, whose Commerce Department began penalizing Chinese chip makers about a year ago and persuaded allies such as Japan and the Netherlands to stop exporting chip-making equipment. limit to China.
Read: Tech giants ‘de-risk’ from China, but selectively
Read: US envoy is concerned about the scope of China’s anti-intelligence law
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at @jeffpao3
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