Beijing sets out foreign policy principles in new law
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The Foreign Relations Law marks the first time since China’s founding that its foreign policy is being written into law.
PHOTO: AFP
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BEIJING - A new Chinese law aimed at countering foreign “interference, sanctions and sabotage” is set to take effect on Saturday, setting out China’s foreign policy principles and positions alongside new legislation against spying.
The Foreign Relations Law, passed by the country’s top lawmaking body on Wednesday, marks the first time since China’s founding that its foreign policy is being written into law.
It states that China will be able to take measures to counter and restrict actions that endanger the national interest, while empowering its Cabinet, the State Council, to come up with the appropriate regulations and systems to enforce the countermeasures.
China watchers said it codifies President Xi Jinping’s thinking on foreign policy into law and will serve to guide diplomats, providing consistency in their actions and responses. It also ensures that practices will have legal standing.
The law is being imposed alongside a new anti-espionage law
Experts say both laws codify what is already in practice, and are a continuation of political reforms that started after the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Congress in 2022.
The new Foreign Relations Law states: “Based on the treaties and agreements that it has concluded or acceded to… (China) has the right to take necessary diplomatic action such as modifying or terminating diplomatic or consular relations.”
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said it met an “urgent need” to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.
“The enactment of the Law on Foreign Relations will fully reflect in legal form the core essence, spirit, rich connotation and practical requirements of Xi Jinping Diplomatic Thought, which is conducive to transforming the party’s guidelines and policies in the foreign field into national will through legal procedures, regulating and guiding foreign work, and serving the overall situation of domestic development and foreign work,” Mr Wang said in an editorial published in the official People’s Daily newspaper on Thursday.
A member of the Politburo, Mr Wang, who is head of the CPC Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission, outranks Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
Such a law is in response to the “interference, sanctions and sabotage” by foreign countries against China, Mr Wang wrote without mentioning the West. He added that the legislation’s legal provisions will allow China to easily take countermeasures or deterrent steps.
There are few surprises in the new law, which is part of the move to codify existing policies as Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, said China watcher Bill Bishop, who runs the Sinocism newsletter.
Having such legislation allows more legal backing for China’s countermeasures when necessary, but largely serves as a guiding document for those conducting diplomacy, director of the Institute of International Relations at Nanjing University Zhu Feng told The Straits Times. Calling the contents “internationally normal and pragmatic”, he said the document also serves to ensure consistency between Chinese officials on the international stage.
“We saw some behaviour in recent years that was very inconsistent with China’s foreign policy, so this law will standardise how our foreign policy is being conducted, and it shows others as well where our red lines are,” he said, pointing to the example of China’s top envoy to France, Mr Lu Shaye, whose combative style could be termed “wolf warrior diplomacy”.
A fluent French speaker, Mr Lu has been known to make strident comments about his host country and most recently came under fire when he questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet Union states during a live debate.
The world’s second-largest economy, China has pursued a more assertive foreign policy in recent years, including pushing its own diplomatic and security architecture to rival the United States-led system of alliances, multilateral treaties and institutions.
This includes the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and most recently, the Global Civilisation Initiative.
Beijing has also taken part in massive infrastructure investment projects through the Belt and Road Initiative,
But all this has done little to mitigate the effects of a bruising trade war and historically high tensions between Washington and Beijing.
At last count, the US has sanctioned nearly 1,300 Chinese entities for a range of issues, including aiding Russia, ties to the military, human rights abuses in Xinjiang and, most recently, for contributing to the fentanyl crisis in the US.
The tensions also led to heightened nerves when China’s new anti-espionage law, also to go into effect on Saturday, was announced in April.
Shortly after the legislation was passed, it emerged that several American firms conducting due diligence in China had come under investigation.
But such levers have always existed, and the new law will do little to change anything, Mr Jeremy Daum, a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Centre at Yale University, said during a talk with Beijing-based journalists. China has always had a broad definition of what constitutes espionage, and the sprawling state security apparatus has had a wide range of tools at its disposal, but what has changed in recent years is the political will to enforce them, added Mr Daum, who runs China Law Translate, a website that translates Chinese legislation into English.
Having a vague definition of what constitutes spying promotes fear, making it extra difficult for Chinese nationals, particularly those working in academia or sensitive areas, to have contact with foreigners, he said.
Mr Daum added: “It is hard to see the light between that in the previous definition (and the new law) because it was already so expansive... What has changed is the environment.”
