‘No basis’ for attack fears in China’s new rules for PLA activities

Regulation covers PLA missions from disaster relief to humanitarian aid and peacekeeping, as well as its response to political crises at home and overseas

Experts say the outline order does not mean Beijing can unilaterally send troops to other countries

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China’s President Xi Jinping has signed an order of outline on the PLA’s role in non-war situations. Photo: AP

Published: 6:00am, 16 Jun 2022

A Communist Party regulation which gives a legal underpinning to the PLA’s peacetime activities at home and abroad, will not allow Beijing to unilaterally send troops to other countries, and is unlikely to have implications for any potential attack on Taiwan, military analysts said.

The outline order on “non-war military activities” (NWMA) takes effect on Wednesday, according to a report by state broadcaster CCTV, after the recent signing by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who also chairs the party’s all-powerful Central Military Commission.

Experts said the regulation covered the PLA’s non-traditional military missions, such as disaster relief, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, as well as responding to political crises at home and overseas.

Some commentators have compared Beijing’s phrasing of “non-war military activities” to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that his country was conducting “special military operations” in Ukraine, in what turned out to be a full-scale invasion.

However, experts told the South China Morning Post the outline was not meant to make it easier for China to deploy military force against other countries.

Retired PLA lieutenant colonel Zeng Zhiping, a military law expert at Suzhou City University, said Chinese troops must abide by both the United Nations Charter and local laws when they join peacekeeping missions.