Prepare for conflicts, Xi orders Chinese military

China adopts new laws to ‘resolutely safeguard’ sovereignty

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the military to prepare for conflicts in the East and South China Seas as the Communist Party-led government is poised to adopt wide-ranging security laws in 2024 to “resolutely safeguard” its sovereignty.

Xi, according to a report by Kyodo News, also directed China’s military to enhance its strategic capabilities in emerging areas such as cyberspace and outer space.

In Manila, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday said the military has adopted the new Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept to defend Philippine territory including its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“In plain language, we are developing our capability to protect and secure our entire territory and EEZ in order to ensure that our people and all the generations of Filipinos to come shall freely reap and enjoy the bounties of the natural resources that are rightfully ours within our domain,” he said in a statement.

“I emphasize that this is a strategic action and will not need constant directives to carry out. I, thus, urge our commanders and units in the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to exert all efforts to operationalize the CADC,” Teodoro added.

Malacanang and the Department of Foreign Affairs have yet to react to Xi’s orders.

Xi, who also chairs the Central Military Commission, gave the instructions during this year’s National People’s Congress, or China’s parliament.

China has overlapping territorial claims with other countries in theEast and South China seas.

Earlier this week, maritime hostilities between the coast guards of China and the Philippines flared, prompting several governments to issue statements condemning Beijing for its actions.

The head of the Philippine military’s Western Command and four crew members were injured as two China Coast Guard vessels used water cannons against the civilian supply ship Unaiza May 4 near Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday.

The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest over the two collisions, which President Marcos described as “dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions.”

“We cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way,” the President said.

Top legislator Zhao Leji on Friday promised that lawmakers would “resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests” as he laid out the agenda for the National People’s Congress for the coming year.

“To modernize China’s system and capacity for national security,” he said, Beijing will enact “an emergency management law, an energy law, an atomic energy law, and a hazardous chemicals safety law.”

It will also revise “the National Defense Education Law and the Cybersecurity Law,” Zhao said in his report.

He did not offer more details about what the new laws would involve, nor when precisely they would be adopted.

“Military education and cybersecurity are clear priorities” for China’s legislators, Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor and Chinese politics expert at Hong Kong University, told AFP.

“They want to strengthen the legal framework in these areas, which is part of Xi’s own priorities,” he said, adding it was “no surprise” that national security was highlighted in Zhao’s report.

China last year approved a revised anti-espionage law that dramatically expanded its definition of spying, giving Beijing more power than ever to punish what it deems threats to national security.

A state secrets law adopted last month added more categories of sensitive information, including “work secrets”—information not classified as state secrets but which could “impede the normal duties of (state) organs or work units” if leaked.

Such leaks must be met with “necessary protective measures,” the amended law says.

— Vince Lopez with AFP

Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “China vows to ‘safeguard’ national security with new laws at conclave.”