Xi urges stronger laws for military on foreign duties
President Xi Jinping said China should strengthen the use and making of military laws when engaging with other countries.
“China should make more comprehensive the body of military laws and regulations that involve foreign countries, so as to better protect national interests through the use of law,” Xi said, as quoted by the state news agency Xinhua.
As part of efforts to elevate the role of laws in governing the country, Beijing has for years called for the prioritising of “foreign-related legal work”, including taking part in the making of international law, resolving disputes through treaties, and revising domestic laws to correlate them with those of other jurisdictions.
The concept of “foreign-related legal work” has been applied mostly in international commerce and used less in reference to the rules of military engagement.
Xi, who is also the head of the Central Military Commission, China’s top military policymaking body, told military and paramilitary representatives that China must speed up the “fundamental change” in how the military was governed.
“We must adhere to the party having absolute leadership over the military, adhere to the standard of combat effectiveness and adhere to the building of a military rule of law system with Chinese characteristics,” he told NPC delegates on Monday.
He added that the process of making military laws should be more systematic, comprehensive and coordinated.
Yu Yuanbai, a retired PLA Navy admiral and NPC deputy, had proposed at the NPC session last year to make laws regulating immigration, logistical support and the rights of People’s Liberation Army troops in military operations involving a foreign country.
The NPC Standing Committee, China’s highest legislative body, also called in its 2021 annual report for the making of more “foreign-related laws”, which it said formed a “legal toolbox” to guard against sanctions and what Beijing regards as foreign interference and the long-arm jurisdiction of other countries.