China is mulling amendments to its Law on National Defense amid profound changes in the world over the past two decades by adding key formulations, including threats to the country’s development interests, as reasons for defense mobilization, and involvement in global security governance.
With China’s development interests growing alongside the country’s development, it has more and more overseas interests, including strategic transport lanes and Chinese citizens overseas and investments, which could be vulnerable to terrorism, regional instabilities as well as hostile attacks and lockdowns, with the proposed law amendments aiming to work in tandem with military reform to ensure China’s peaceful development and growing interests around the world have the backing of defense forces when needed, Chinese analysts claimed on October 22.
The amendment draft to the Law on National Defense was released on the website of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Wednesday, Oct. 21, soliciting opinions from the general public from Wednesday to November 19, after the draft was deliberated by the NPC Standing Committee at a plenary session in Beijing. General Wei Fenghe, a Central Military Commission (CMC) member, a State Councilor and the Minister of National Defense, explained the draft in detail, media reported on Wednesday.
Wei said that the current Law on National Defense, which came into effect in 1997, cannot fully adapt to new missions and the requirements for the development of national defense and the Chinese military; therefore, it needs to be amended.
The draft revisions also aim to make Chinese military service a profession revered by the whole of society, which analysts said will guarantee that they better accomplish missions in emergencies, war and occasions in which national sovereignty, security and development interests are being harmed.