China recently passed a new foreign law, which will work towards national security, safeguarding its sovereignty, and development interests, as per the state media.
The new Law for foreign relations was passed by the National People’s Congress on 28th June, coming into effect on July 1st.
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According to the state media, the new law is to enhance coordination between Beging’s existing foreign relations legislation and departments working on foreign affairs.
What does China’s new law say?
The new law enshrines Xi Jinping’s signature campaigns, such as Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative into China’s Foreign Policy.
Reports say that the text of the law mentions ‘national security’ several times whereas ‘economy’ is just mentioned twice. It shows that the focus of the Chinese government through this law is on the country’s national security as opposed to its economic relations.
Experts say that China’s new law on foreign relations is more focused on geopolitics than it is on foreign businesses. It extends the legal arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) beyond China’s borders.
Chinese state media said that despite having 52 existing foreign affairs laws and several other laws containing foreign affairs clauses, there existed a gap in laws for safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
According to a scholar, the new law gives the Chinese Government a legal framework for retaliatory policies including ‘weaponisation of trade’ which has always been Bejing’s default trade policy, where it uses its trade leverage over another nation and coerces them to take actions for specific outcomes.
In response to US sanctions
Scholars believe that Bejing has designed the law as a new legal tool to challenge the increasing hurdles posed by the United States of America and the Europe Union. The primary hurdle is the sanctions imposed by Washington. These sanctions are majorly directed towards high-end technologies and have affected China’s economic recovery post pandemic.
Chinese state media has explained that this law is completely different from certain countries’ long-arm jurisdiction of their domestic laws, indirectly criticising Washington imposed sanctions on other countries. With this Bejing is hinting towards developing its own long-arm jurisdiction.
How will this Affect India?
China’s new law on foreign relations combined with its Border Law of 2021 would give legal cover to Chinese Military Transgressions across the border. It is a sign that Beijing would not hesitate to use harsh economic tools to target New Delhi if the relations between the two are not on good terms.
