By Jerome A. Cohen
Here is the latest report from Changhao Wei’s “NPC Observer.” It, like Susan Finder’s “Supreme Court Monitor,” is an invaluable asset in helping us keep track of the work of Chinese legal and governmental institutions. This report discusses the past week’s output of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Its most recent meeting was noteworthy in several respects.
First of all, there was apparently no discussion of the possibility that the NPCSC might issue a clarification of the scope of Article 38 of the new National Security Law for Hong Kong. Article 38 has been widely criticized in Hong Kong and abroad because, on its face, it purports to condemn as criminal actions that are perfectly legal in the jurisdictions where non-permanent residents of Hong Kong have committed them. This goes beyond the reach of China’s code of Criminal Law and standard international practice. It remains to be seen to what extent the PRC will seek to implement Article 38. Beijing may be content for now with the in terrorem effect of the language, which has been considerable.
Additionally, the amendments to the PRC’s National Flag Law and National Emblem Law, undoubtedly inspired by events in Hong Kong and applicable to Hong Kong, should be studied for their impact on the Special Administrative Region’s socio-political-legal environment as well as the rest of the nation.
The substantial revision of the Minors Protection Law should interest human rights advocates.
Perhaps of great importance to many observers in the scientific, legal, economic, social and political fields, is a new Biosecurity Law that must have been stimulated at least in part by the Covid-19 crisis and the antecedent controversy and criminal case relating to CRISPR and gene-editing.
Thanks again to the NPC Observer, a periodical worthy of our support.