July 1, 2015 (WSJ) — China adopted a sweeping national-security law that the government says is needed to counter emerging threats but that critics say may be used to quash dissent and exclude foreign investment.
Approved by the legislature’s standing committee, the law sets an expansive definition of national security that outlaws threats to China’s government, sovereignty and national unity as well as its economy, society, and cyber and space interests.
Its passage marked the latest signpost in Beijing’s intensifying crackdown on activism and dissent during the past two years, featuring repression of civil-society groups, heightened monitoring of social media, and sharpened warnings against the spread of Western ideas and influences.
Other news coverage:
“Beijing’s new national security law,” Backchat RTHK, July 3, 2015 (Panelists Gladys Li, Barrister and and Member, HK2020; Joseph Cheng, Convenor, Alliance for True Democracy, and Retired Professor, Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong Kong; Lawrence Ma, Barrister and Chairman, China-Australia Legal Exchange Foundation, and Simon Young, Professor and Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong
