China Drafting New Law to Sanction Deployment of Troops Abroad

Posted by david on Nov 26, 2014 in Blog | 0 comments

Given China’s long-standing principle/policy of not interfering in the domestic politics of other countries, if this law is adopted, it will signal China’s proactivism to take the fight against terrorists to the countries where they are training for anti-China attacks.  As China matures as a dominant economic power with vital interests around the world and terrorism increasingly encroaches on Chinese turf, the law may also portend the first baby steps toward the revision of the country’s non-interventionist principle.

 

The draft of China’s first counter-terrorism law includes clauses that would authorize the army and the paramilitary police to carry out counter-terrorism missions abroad if the deployment had the consent of the countries involved, Chinese delegates told the Xiangshan Forum last week, according to analysts at the regional security meeting.

The draft legislation was submitted to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee in October and is not yet approved, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported yesterday.

Li Wei, a counter-terrorism analyst at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the legislation would authorize Chinese troops to fight terrorism beyond its borders.

The new law is being contemplated amid stepped up militant attacks carried out by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, (ETIM) stated to be a Al Qaeda backed outfit in Xinjiang.  A number of ETIM militants were reported to have been killed during air raids carried by Pakistan military in the tribal areas in recent months.  Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif during his visit this month promised to step up the crackdown on the militant group.  Xinjiang borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Li said Chinese troops rarely ventured abroad, with the most recent instance being in 2004 when armed police were sent
to guard the embassy in Iraq.

Renmin University international relations professor Jin Canrong said China was cautious about taking part in overseas operations, given its long-standing principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. But it was now prepared to be more proactive.

“It’s faced with escalating domestic terrorism threats, which have been proven to be connected to training and other terror activities abroad. Neighbouring countries are also calling on China to help in areas such as training counter-terrorism units and fighting Islamic State,” he said.

– The Economic Times (of India)