China’s Parliament on Thursday handed the Anti-foreign Sanctions Law, offering a complete authorized cowl for blocking overseas sanctions towards Chinese officers and entities and defending them towards the long-arm jurisdiction, particularly from the US. The legislation was handed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s nationwide legislature.
The legislation was handed within the backdrop of the US and EU international locations slapping sanctions towards various Chinese entities and officers over allegations of human rights violations towards Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the imposition of China’s nationwide safety legislation in Hong Kong. The sanctions have been launched as a coordinated effort by the European Union, UK, US and Canada. China responded with its personal sanctions on European officers.
For a while, out of political manipulation wants and ideological bias, some Western international locations have used Xinjiang and Hong Kong-related points as a part of their pretexts to unfold rumours on and smear, comprise and suppress China, the workplace of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC stated. Defending the legislation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin advised a media briefing right here on Thursday that to safeguard China’s nationwide sovereignty, dignity, and core pursuits and oppose western hegemonism and energy politics, the Chinese authorities has introduced counter measures towards related people and entities of sure international locations.
Meanwhile, we consider it’s vital for the nation to have particular legal guidelines to counter overseas sanctions in order that we’ve got authorized foundation and assure for such countermeasures, he stated, ruling out that the legislation will have an effect on China’s relations with different international locations. China’s authorized specialists say the Anti-foreign Sanctions Law, the primary of its sort in China, will present robust authorized assist and ensures for the nation towards unilateral and discriminatory measures imposed by overseas international locations.
The US authorities has been imposing sanctions on a rising variety of Chinese entities reminiscent of high-tech companies Huawei and ZTE over the so-called nationwide safety dangers, and sanctioned various senior Chinese officers below the United States Xinjiang and Hong Kong payments final yr. China has sped up plans for an anti-sanctions legislation after US President Joe Biden dashed Beijing’s hopes that he would undertake a softer coverage stance in direction of Beijing in distinction to his predecessor Donald Trump’s hardline push towards the Communist large, the Hong Kong based mostly South Morning Post reported.
The new legislation will present a authorized framework for retaliation and permit Chinese companies to search compensation over overseas sanctions. The thought was proposed final yr and work on the anti-sanctions legislation began, however progress was not very fast as a result of China was hopeful about Biden, the Post quoted a authorities official as saying.
Those sanctioned included Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the area’s occasion chief Chen Quanguo, in addition to different senior mainland and Hong Kong officers and the 14 vice-chairmen of the NPC. Beijing has not but supplied particulars of the legislation, however the transfer shall be seen as a sign that it’ll not draw back from additional confrontation with Washington.
Under the brand new legislation, “China can make reciprocal sanctions or take harsher countermeasures, for example, restricting entry, freezing bank assets, or imposing sanctions on relevant individuals or entities, Tian Feilong, a legal expert at Beihang University in Beijing, told the state-run Global Times. China’s Foreign Ministry also announced 11 rounds of countermeasures in retaliation over Western countries’ sanctions by sanctioning a number of NGOs, anti-China politicians, arms producers and entities as well as lawmakers who helped spread lies about those matters.
“Previous sanctions are fragmented and with out ample authorized foundation, and will incur unfavourable suggestions due to lack of ample authorized foundation. Now, we’ve got an entire authorized foundation, providing us the identical place because the West in taking countermeasures,” Tian stated.
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