China’s ‘two sessions’: PLA deputies push for wartime legislation
- Calls come at a time of heightened tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea
- Legal expert says preparations for conflict ‘have become more critical and urgent’
There have been calls to introduce wartime legislation in China, which has vowed to defend the country’s sovereignty and national interests with military force if needed.
According to a summary of their suggestions released on Tuesday, PLA deputies commented on what they called an urgent need for wartime legislation as they reviewed amendments to the Legislation Law, which sets out principles for lawmaking and lawmakers.
PLA deputy Wu Xihua was among those pushing for wartime legislation, and said China should step up lawmaking for the military.
Ye Dabin, another PLA deputy, said: “Taking our wartime needs into account, [we should] begin studying wartime legislation in a timely and systematic manner.”
Zhang Like, commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District, suggested that China should push for the “introduction of laws such as the mobilisation of reserve forces”.
Other deputies called for legislative changes related to the PLA’s overseas operations, which have expanded in recent years and include the establishment of a military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, and naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia.
Yuan Yubai, a former commander of the Southern Theatre Command, said Beijing should strengthen legal research and study international laws related to national defence to improve “the rationality and legitimacy” of the Chinese military’s overseas missions.