National security law

China’s New National Security Law

The Chinese government made headlines around the world on July 1 when the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed a sweeping new national security law. The scope of the law, China’s most comprehensive piece of national security legislation to date, is broad. It covers issues of political security, military security, economic and financial security, social and cultural security, nuclear security, ecological security, and more. The final version of the law makes clear that the country’s leadership sees its security interests as extending far beyond the physical borders of mainland China, reaching to the depths of the sea, into outer space, and perhaps most importantly, into cyberspace.