China’s National Legislature to Convene Emergency Session Amid Foreign Minister’s Month-Long Absence

UPDATE: On Tuesday, the NPCSC decided to remove Qin Gang as minister of foreign affairs and instead reappointed his predecessor and China’s current top-ranked diplomat, Wang Yi, to that post. Qin remains a state councilor. His removal [免职], unlike a dismissal [撤职], is not inherently considered a disciplinary action. In addition, the NPCSC has the statutory authority (under the 2021 amendments to the NPC Organic Law) to remove Qin as a state councilor, but did not exercise that power today. We won’t speculate as to why.

The Council of Chairpersons meeting on Monday to convene Tuesday’s NPCSC session. Photo by Xinhua.

Senior leaders of China’s national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), decided on Monday, July 24 to convene the NPCSC for an emergency session just a day later, on Tuesday, July 25. According to the official readout of their meeting, the sole items on the session’s agenda are a draft Criminal Law Amendment (XII) [刑法修正案（十二）], which is not expected to pass on Tuesday, and unspecified personnel matters—or, in legal-speak, “bills of appointments and removals” [任免案]—which will pass and appear to be the source of the emergency.

Continue reading “China’s National Legislature to Convene Emergency Session Amid Foreign Minister’s Month-Long Absence” →

China’s Foreign Relations Law: Balancing “Struggle” with Beijing’s “Responsible Great Power” Narrative

By Moritz Rudolf

On June 28, China’s national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, adopted the Foreign Relations Law [对外关系法]. It went into force on July 1, 2023.

The Law underlines two important trends: China’s increasing global outreach and its willingness to embed this global outreach within a legal framework.

As a framework law, it restates China’s long-standing foreign policy positions and codifies its foreign policy praxis. It also highlights new priorities such as the recently launched Global Security Initiative [全球安全倡议], Global Development Initiative [全球发展倡议], and Global Civilization Initiative [全球文明倡议]. While it clarifies many aspects of the function and vision of China’s foreign policy apparatus, it also creates significant legal uncertainty, especially with regards to the application and implementation of international treaties. This is particularly relevant given the deterioration of U.S.-China relations and the renewed prioritization of “struggle” [斗争] in the PRC’s foreign policy vocabulary and as a new key element of Xi Jinping Thought.

The Law outlines China’s foreign policy framework and goals in 45 articles spanning six chapters, which I discuss in turn below.

Continue reading “China’s Foreign Relations Law: Balancing “Struggle” with Beijing’s “Responsible Great Power” Narrative” →

NPC Calendar: July 2023

Here is our recap of NPC-related events in July 2023 at our monthly newsletter.

The revised Counterespionage Law [反间谍法] (adopted on Apr. 26, 2023) and the Foreign Relations Law [对外关系法] (adopted on June 28, 2023) take effect on July 1.

The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) is soliciting public comment on the following bills through July 27:

The NPCSC will convene for its next regularly scheduled session in late August.

NPCSC Seeks Public Comment on 4 Bills: Patriotic Education, Food Security, Administrative Reconsideration & Marine Environment

China’s national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), is soliciting public comment on the following four bills through July 27, 2023:

Draft NameChinese TextExplanatory Document
Administrative Reconsideration Law (2nd Draft Revision)
行政复议法修订草案二次审议稿		PDF · ΔPDF
Marine Environmental Protection Law (2nd Draft Revision)
海洋环境保护法修订草案二次审议稿		PDFPDF
Patriotic Education Law (Draft)
爱国主义教育法草案		PDF
(English)		PDF
Law on Ensuring Food Security (Draft)
粮食安全保障法草案		PDFPDF

English translations will be provided if and when available. All explanatory documents are in Chinese and compiled in a single PDF; the links above will take you to the corresponding pages in the PDF only if you use a desktop browser—this does not work on a phone or a tablet.

Continue reading “NPCSC Seeks Public Comment on 4 Bills: Patriotic Education, Food Security, Administrative Reconsideration & Marine Environment” →

NPCSC Session Watch: Patriotic Education, Food Security, Accessible Environments & New Delegate Affairs Commission

UPDATE (June 26, 2023): The NPCSC is expected to approve the Barrier-Free Environments Development Law and the Foreign Relations Law on Wednesday, June 28.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay (cropped)

The 14th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) will convene for its third session from June 26 to 28, the Council of Chairpersons decided on Friday, June 16. Eight bills, including six draft laws, are on the session’s tentative agenda, which we preview below.

Continue reading “NPCSC Session Watch: Patriotic Education, Food Security, Accessible Environments & New Delegate Affairs Commission” →

Introducing NPC Observer Monthly

Earlier today, we formally launched our new Substack newsletter, NPC Observer Monthly, a monthly recap of goings-on at the National People’s Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee (NPCSC)—and sometimes more.

This newsletter drops at the start of each month, starting today. Each issue will, at a minimum, recap all major NPC-related events in the previous month, including any new law that took effect, any new documents released by the legislature, and, of course, any legislative meetings as well as their agendas and outcomes. In the course of recounting the events, we will link to and excerpt from any relevant coverage we have published here. And we will briefly discuss any development that we haven’t yet had the time to analyze in-depth here.

If, during the previous month, we have also published contents not tied to any current event, the newsletter will include a round-up of such publications. Finally, depending on the month and our schedule, we may also end an issue with musings on an NPC-related topic that is in some way connected to the previous month—as we did today (see excerpt below).

Continue reading “Introducing NPC Observer Monthly“ →

NPC Calendar: June 2023

Here is our recap of NPC-related events in June 2023 at our monthly newsletter.

The 14th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) will convene for its 3rd session in late June. The Council of Chairpersons is expected to meet in mid-June to decide on the agenda and dates of the session.

According to the NPCSC’s 2023 legislative work plan, the following bills will return for further review:

The NPCSC is expected to review one or more additional bills at its upcoming session.

China’s National Legislature Releases 2023 Legislative Plan

On Monday, May 29, China’s national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), released its legislative work plan for 2023 (Plan). The Plan was preliminarily approved by the Council of Chairpersons in December 2022 and finalized on April 14. It sets forth priorities for all aspects of the NPCSC’s legislative work in 2023, which include a list of legislative projects scheduled for review or research this year. Other aspects of the NPCSC’s legislative work include upholding the Communist Party’s leadership of lawmaking, implementing the Constitution, dealing with expiring reform authorizations, and improving legislative procedure. We, as usual, will focus on the list of legislative projects in this post, but will also note a few other notable tasks included in the Plan.

Continue reading “China’s National Legislature Releases 2023 Legislative Plan” →

The Content and Context of Chinese Military’s New Authority to Change “Wartime” Court-Martial Rules

On February 24, 2023, China’s national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), adopted a decision authorizing the Central Military Commission (CMC), China’s highest military authority, to “adjust” the way in which the Chinese military applies the Criminal Procedure Law [刑事诉讼法] during “wartime” (the Decision). That is admittedly (three-month-)old “news.” We did not write about it then because the Decision’s timing was not self-evident and the scope of its authorization unclear. Its accompanying explanation, we had hoped, would shed light on those questions, but it was not immediately released.

Continue reading “The Content and Context of Chinese Military’s New Authority to Change “Wartime” Court-Martial Rules” →

Term Review: How Long Did It Take the 13th NPC to Pass a Law?

The five-year term of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) recently ended. At the risk of overpromising, we plan to write a few end-of-term reviews on different aspects of the 13th NPC’s lawmaking over the next several months. In this first installment, we will try to answer the question “how long does it take the (last) NPC to pass a bill?”—as well as subsidiary questions like “when is [insert bill of your choice] up for its next reading?” and “how many reviews will the bill go through?”

Continue reading “Term Review: How Long Did It Take the 13th NPC to Pass a Law?” →