A revised draft of China's new national security law was read by the country's top legislature Monday, with the addition of new clauses regarding cultural and cyber security.
The edited draft of the law read by the National People's Congress (NPC) called for the reinforced dissemination of socialist core values and the prevention of the infiltration of harmful moral standards. It also addressed the establishment of systems for cyber and information security and national cyber sovereignty, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"Cultural security should be stressed as various forms of media such as films, television programs, books and Internet communications can have far-reaching social impacts," said Li Wei, a security expert from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Li added that maintaining cultural security requires that the authorities spread traditional Chinese culture while resisting the penetration of negative perspectives including the dissemination of some Western values antagonistic to Chinese core values.
"It plays a crucial role in building up the nation's ideology and qualities of people."
The revised draft stipulates mechanisms for national security work in intelligence collection and research as well as inter-departmental coordination and evaluation. Transparency in security work is deemed essential by the draft bill.
It also included clauses pertaining to key strategic industries and sectors deemed vital to the national economy, which would seek to reduce financial risks through the development of better financial infrastructure and capabilities.
"Compared with its first reading, the draft for the second reading defined the government's overall national security outlook in a clearer and more comprehensive way," said Li.
"The law should have been proposed earlier so that huge losses caused by the leakage of economic intelligence could have been avoided," said Wang Guoxiang, an associate professor at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.
The overall national security outlook, put forward by President Xi Jinping, defines national security as a situation in which the country's government, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, the well-being of its people, the sustainable and healthy development of its economy and society, and other major interests are relatively safe and not subject to internal and external threats.
China's first national security law, which took effect in 1993, was later rewritten and since November last year has served as the country's first specific legislation on counterespionage.
The draft was tabled for its second reading during the bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee, which runs from Monday to Friday.
