China passes its first foreign relations law in key step to enrich legal toolbox against Western hegemony(2)

Important, necessary step

The Foreign Relations Law stipulates that, on the basis of abiding by the basic principles of international law and the basic norms governing international relations, the country shall strengthen the implementation and application of laws and regulations in the field of foreign affairs, and take law enforcement, judicial and administrative measures in accordance with the law to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and organizations.

China has the right to take necessary countermeasures in accordance with the law against acts that violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations and endanger China's sovereignty, security and development interests. The country shall formulate necessary laws, administrative regulations and departmental rules, establish corresponding working systems and mechanisms, strengthen coordination among departments, and establish and implement relevant countermeasures and restrictive measures.

"For the first time, the law states the purpose, conditions and policy orientation of the application of Chinese law in foreign relations, and stipulates principles for the measures to counter and restrictive measures against foreign countries, individuals or organizations," Huang Huikang, a professor of the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

It also establishes corresponding working systems and mechanisms, so as to construct the basic legal system framework for Chinese law in extraterritorial application, Huang said.

The extraterritorial application of domestic law is an important part of the rule of law in foreign-related affairs, and exterritorial application of domestic law is the concrete embodiment of protective jurisdiction and universal jurisdiction recognized by international law, and is a supplement to personal jurisdiction and territorial jurisdiction, the expert noted.

"What we object to is the abuse of so-called 'long-arm jurisdiction'," he said.

The law stipulates that the goal of developing foreign relations includes developing a global partnership and promoting an all-round, multi-level, wide-ranging and three-dimensional external work layout, promoting the coordination and positive interaction among major countries.

The U.S. is the only sanctions superpower in the world. According to the Treasury 2021 Sanctions Review by fiscal year 2021, the number of active U.S. sanctions designations had increased to more than 9,400, according to a report released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in February on U.S.' long-arm jurisdiction. In recent years, China has been subjected to mounting U.S. sanctions over a series of matters such as high-tech, Xinjiang and Hong Kong as well as the Ukraine crisis.

"The formulation of the Foreign Relations Law is a major legislative measure to accelerate the construction of the rule of law in foreign-related affairs and fix the loopholes in the field, which also marks an improvement in China's ability to carry out international struggles and safeguard the interests of its country and people through the rule of law," Huo said.

The law also provides a legal basis for the diplomatic struggle against sanctions, anti-intervention and long-arm jurisdiction, and aims to constantly enrich the legal toolbox and develop the ways and means to safeguard national interests, which could also play a role of prevention, warning and deterrence against Western hegemony, experts noted.