China offers first glimpse of sweeping national security law
Proposal reflects President Xi Jinping's push for broader approach to threats but raises fears of further curbs on freedoms, analysts say
China has for the first time released a draft of a sweeping law on national security, a far-reaching term ranging from finance, politics, the military and cybersecurity to ideology and religion.
Analysts said the law reflected Beijing's view that the scope of national security needed to be expanded but it also triggered fears of greater limits on freedom.
The full text of the draft, which had its second reading at a National People's Congress Standing Committee session last month, was posted on the legislature's website late on Wednesday for public consultation.
The law emphasises the Communist Party's leadership in the area, saying the party will direct efforts to establish "a centralised, efficient and authoritative national security leadership system". But it stopped short of referring to the party's new National Security Commission.
President Xi Jinping, who heads the commission, has previously said that national security should be comprehensive, encompassing politics, the military, the economy, technology, the environment and culture.
Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research centre at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the draft was geared to meet Xi's new approach to national security, which demands China's security apparatus adapt to changing conditions at home and overseas.
"Such broad areas reflect Xi's call … meaning China can't focus just on its local security issues, but needs to cooperate and develop new security ties with other countries," Li said.