NPC vows to safeguard national security with new laws
The nation’s top legislators on Friday vowed to enact a slew of new laws to "modernise China's system and capacity for national security" and safeguard the country's sovereign interests. The National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), gathering at the annual meeting of parliament in Beijing, pledged to enact legislation including an emergency management law and atomic energy law. They also said they would revise laws on national defence education and cybersecurity this year, according to a work report delivered by the NPCSC chairman Zhao Leji. "To modernise China's system and capacity for national security," he said, Beijing will enact "an emergency management law, an energy law, an atomic energy law, and a hazardous chemicals safety law." The NPC is also set to introduce and amend laws in areas ranging from financial stability to preschool education and disease control. The report also took on an international focus, vowing to "strengthen legislation in areas involving foreign affairs and develop a system of laws for extraterritorial application." "We will use legal means to stand up for our country in the international arena and resolutely safeguard our sovereignty, security and development interests," Zhao said in the NPCSC report. (Agencies)