By Greg Austin
There is ample room for Brussels to deepen the conversation with Beijing on security goals of mutual interest.
EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, was in China last week discussing possible joint actions in international security. Past cooperation in piracy operations off the Somalian coast and in various international peace initiatives provides a solid basis, as does cooperation in combating climate change. There has even been a reasonable degree of contact on countering terrorism and cyber crime.
The day after Mogherini left China, the country’s National People’s Congress released the second draft of a new law that is China’s first attempt to provide a legal basis for an overall approach to internal security. The law, which upholds the ruling position of the Communist Party as well as laying out division of administrative responsibilities in maintaining that political and social order, should give the EU some pause for thought on just how far any joint actions might go. The authoritarian elements of the draft law are a useful reminder of why the EU maintains an arms sales ban on China first imposed in 1989 in response to the Tian An Men Square repressions.
The bill, called the National Security Law (Draft), is the latest effort by China to normalize its legal and constitutional order in this field. It replaces a law of the same name which late last year was given a new name, the Counter-Espionage law (which was the main subject it addressed, along with subversion and treason).
Read the full story at The Diplomat