China this month implemented its new Foreign Relations Law and amended its Counterespionage Law, which are widely considered to be an attempt to advance Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (???) ambitions to reshuffle the international order, while they also increase the threat to human rights and other countries’ sovereignty.
Since Xi cemented his paramount leadership, Beijing has passed a range of laws to consolidate his and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) regime, while promoting Xi’s dream of “the great rejuvenation of China.”
The Patriotic Education Law — rolled out last month and requiring all Chinese organizations and individuals to pursue compulsory patriotic education, such as studying “Xi Jinping thought” — is aimed at indoctrinating the public with nationalism and suppressing dissent within the country and overseas, particularly targeting Hong Kong and Macau, and even Taiwan, which lies beyond China’s jurisdiction. China also reinforced its National Security Law and the 2021 Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law.
Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission Director Wang Yi (??) called the Foreign Relations Law “a major achievement in implementing Xi Jinping’s diplomatic thought in the form of law.”
It stipulates measures China could adopt to counter foreign nations, individuals and organizations amid the country’s deteriorating relations with the US and other democratic nations. It also poses more restrictions against actions that might “endanger its national interests.”
It is rare for a country to turn diplomatic policy into law, but Xi’s rule obviously needs the new tools to counter hurdles posed by the US and other democracies, including sanctions directed toward high-end technologies that have affected China’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery; international criticism directed at the CCP’s domestic policies; human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong; coercion of Taiwan; and Beijing’s support for Moscow. Xi needs to show his citizens that he and the CCP have the ability to make China “great again.”
Following a slew of raids — without providing evidence — of international financial firms, and detentions of foreign businesspeople and people accused of spying, the new laws present more restrictions that pose a threat to Chinese and foreigners inside China and abroad. Chinese local and central authorities can arbitrarily interpret the laws to determine what is illegal, assert extraterritorial jurisdiction or undermine human rights.
The US Department of State has issued a travel advisory urging Americans to reconsider traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau, citing arbitrary law enforcement, exit bans and the risk of wrongful detention. The US National Counterintelligence and Security Center says that the ambiguity of the laws puts US and international firms and individuals at risk.
The Mainland Affairs Council has said it would extend its “yellow” travel alert, in place since COVID-19, for China, Hong Kong and Macau, while cautioning Taiwanese to register plans to travel to China with the government in case of emergency while abroad.
Investment Commission data show that new investments in China by Taiwanese listed companies declined 10.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, the steepest decline in six years, amid a market shift of international firms from China.
By bringing domestic and foreign policies under the total control of the CCP, Xi hopes to build a new international order using China’s norms and laws. However, with rising conflicts and violations of international standards and democratic values, the laws are generating more disputes in international society while further isolating Xi and China.
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