The National IntelligenceLaw of the People's Republic of China, 2017 governs China's intelligence and security apparatus. It is the first law made public in China which is related to China's national intelligence agencies. The law however does not specifically name any of the organisations to which it applies such as the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Public Security. According to the law, "everyone is responsible for state security" which is in line with China's state security legal structure as a whole. The final draft of the law on 16 May 2017 was toned down as compared to previous versions. The National People's Congress passed the law on 27 June 2017. The law was updated on 27 April 2018. The passage of the National Intelligence Law is part of a larger effort by the Chinese central government to strengthen its security legislation. In 2014, China passed a law on counterespionage, in 2015 a law on national security and another on counter-terrorism, in 2016 a law on cybersecurity and foreign NGO Management, among others.
Legal provisions
The Act has 6 chapters and 32 articles. Article 7 of the law "creates the obligation of Chinese citizens to support national intelligence work."
Reaction
Experts argue that the law forces Chinese companies such as Huawei to hand over data to Chinese government regardless of which country that data came from. An article published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute writes that numerous laws in China, including the National Intelligence Law, outline that for "Chinese citizens and companies alike, participation in 'intelligence work' is a legal responsibility and obligation, regardless of geographic boundaries". Chinese critics say that the West is creating unnecessary controversy over the law, controversy that is not based on facts. To address concerns, Huawei, in May 2018, had submitted legal opinion by law firm Zhong Lun, which among other things stated that "Huawei’s subsidiaries and employees outside of China are not subject to the territorial jurisdiction of the National Intelligence Law". New York Timesopinion writer Yi-Zheng Lian writes that under the law, spying is a duty for Chinese citizens and companies. A report by Mannheimer Swartling, a Sweden-based law firm, concluded that "NIL applies to all Chinese citizens" and that "NIL applies globally to Chinese Groups all subsidiaries, even those outside China ".
