Chinese Martial Law and National Security
National Security Law (2015)
The National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China (guójiā ānquán fǎ), enacted on 1 July 2015, is the foundational statute of China’s national security legal framework. The Law defines national security broadly to encompass political security, territorial integrity, economic security, cultural security, social security, technological security, information security, ecological security, and nuclear security. Article 2 defines national security as the relative absence of danger from external and internal threats to the regime, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and sustainable development of the state.
The Law establishes the National Security Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (zhōngyāng guójiā ānquán wěiyuánhuì) as the supreme coordination body for national security matters. It grants authorities broad powers to take measures necessary to protect national security, including surveillance, information collection, and preventive detention. The Law also creates obligations on citizens and organisations to support national security work and to report security threats. The 2015 Law was part of a comprehensive legislative programme that included the Counter-Espionage Law (2014), the Cybersecurity Law (2016), and the Data Security Law (2021).
Hong Kong National Security Law (2020)
The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong National Security Law; xiānggǎng guójiā ānquán fǎ) was enacted on 30 June 2020 by the NPCSC under Article 18 of the Hong Kong Basic Law (Annex III). The Law criminalises four categories of activity: secession (fēnliè guójiā), subversion of state power (diānfù guójiā zhèngquán), terrorist activities (kǒngbù huódòng), and collusion with foreign or external forces (yǔ wàiguó huò jìngwài shìlì gōujié).
The Law established the Office for Safeguarding National Security (guójiā ānquán wěiyuánhuì), the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police, and a dedicated National Security Division of the Department of Justice. The Law provides for the appointment of national security advisers by the central government to guide Hong Kong’s national security work. The Chief Executive appoints a panel of judges to handle national security cases, subject to the Chief Executive’s determination of whether national security is involved. The Law provides for trial without jury, limits on bail, and the admissibility of evidence obtained by the authorities. Extradition and related mutual legal assistance arrangements may be suspended if they conflict with the Law’s requirements.
Martial Law
China’s Martial Law (jièyán fǎ), enacted in 1996, grants the State Council the power to impose martial law in all or part of China in response to emergencies that seriously threaten social order, including riots, insurrections, natural disasters, and epidemics. The Law authorises: curfews; restrictions on movement and assembly; searches of persons and property without warrant; closure of public venues; censorship of communications; and the deployment of the People’s Liberation Army and People’s Armed Police for public order enforcement.
The Martial Law requires that the State Council decision be submitted to the NPCSC for approval, which must be granted within 72 hours. The Law sets out the rights of citizens during martial law and provides for compensation for damage caused by martial law measures. The People’s Armed Police Law (2009, revised 2020) complements the Martial Law framework by governing the use of military force for domestic security operations, including counter-terrorism, riot control, and protection of key infrastructure.
State Secrets Law
The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets (bǎoshǒu guójiā mìmì fǎ), revised in 2010, defines and classifies state secrets and establishes the framework for their protection. The Law defines state secrets across eight categories, including: major policy decisions; national defence and armed forces activities; diplomatic activities; economic and social development secrets; scientific and technological secrets; law enforcement and counter-espionage activities; and other matters determined by the state secrets administration.
The Law classifies secrets into three levels (top secret, classified, confidential) and imposes strict access controls, transmission restrictions, and storage requirements. The State Secrecy Bureau exercises regulatory oversight and investigates breaches. The 2010 revision extended the coverage to electronic information and network communications, and the Guarding State Secrets Regulations (2014) address specific compliance requirements for government agencies, enterprises, and research institutions. The definition of state secrets is broad and has been criticised for encompassing matters that would not be considered legitimate secrets in other jurisdictions.
Counter-Terrorism
The Counter-Terrorism Law of the People’s Republic of China (fǎn kǒngbù zhǔyì fǎ), enacted in 2015 and amended in 2018, provides a comprehensive legal framework for preventing, investigating, and punishing terrorist activities. The Law establishes a national counter-terrorism leadership structure, with the State Council’s counter-terrorism coordination body at the apex and provincial-level coordination bodies below. It authorises a wide range of investigative and preventive measures, including: interception of communications; financial surveillance and asset freezing; identity checks and searches; restriction of movement; and the establishment of security zones.
The Law requires internet service providers to install technical systems for counter-terrorism surveillance and to cooperate with government requests for user data. It imposes obligations on the public to report suspected terrorist activity. The Counter-Terrorism Law has been used in conjunction with other security legislation in Xinjiang and Tibet, where its provisions have been applied to activities characterised by the government as separatist or extremist.
Xinjiang Legal Framework
The legal framework governing Xinjiang includes the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Regulation on Counter-Terrorism and De-Radicalisation (2017), the Xinjiang Employment and Vocational Skills Education and Training Regulations (2019), and various national security laws applied at the regional level. The framework provides legal basis for vocational skills education and training centres (zhíyè jìnéng jiàoyù péixùn zhōngxīn), which international observers have characterised as internment camps.
The framework criminalises a broad range of conduct under the rubric of extremism (jíduān zhǔyì), including behaviours such as having a beard, wearing certain clothing, or possessing religious materials. The legal framework provides for preventive detention, mandatory re-education, and restrictions on religious practice and expression. Chinese authorities maintain that these measures are lawful counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation measures consistent with international law obligations, a position contested by international human rights bodies and several governments.
Preventive Detention
Chinese law provides for preventive detention (yù fáng xìng jūliú) under multiple statutes, including the Criminal Procedure Law (which provides for custodial arrest and detention pending investigation), the Public Security Administration Punishments Law (which allows detention for up to 15 days for public order violations), and the national security legislation (which allows residential surveillance and designated location confinement). The re-education through labour system (láodòng jiàoyǎng), which permitted up to four years of administrative detention without trial, was formally abolished in 2013, but subsequent legislative developments have created alternative detention frameworks.
The National Security Law and related legislation permit the authorities to impose restrictions on personal liberty in the interest of national security. The legal protections available to detained individuals are limited: access to legal counsel is restricted in national security cases; the grounds for detention are broadly defined; and judicial review of administrative detention is minimal. Preventive detention provisions have been invoked in the context of protests, labour unrest, ethnic minority activism, and national security investigations.