While international human rights groups often protest China’s attempts to restrict freedoms of its people, foreign businesses, with profits on the line, have traditionally been less willing to do so. But now, many have joined Western governments in opposing Beijing’s latest plan to impose new controls on foreign organizations.
Under the guise of protecting national security, one proposal would severely curtail the activities of foreign nongovernment organizations (NGOs), including business-affilated groups and universities, according to media reports. It would require such groups to find an official sponsor, presumably a government-backed agency, and gives broad latitude to the police to regulate the groups’ activities and financing. If NGO representatives and other foreign groups are found to “subvert state power” or to “engage in or provide financial assistance for political activities,” they could be detained for up to 15 days, fined up to 300,000 renminbi, about $48,000, and investigated for “criminal liability.”
President Xi Jinping of China last week. Credit Jason Lee/Reuters
Another proposal, a draft national security law, says little about traditional security matters like defending the country’s borders, and instead stresses politics, ideology and culture. The president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Joerg Wuttke, told The Washington Post that the definition of national security is so vague and extensive it could apply to almost any activity.
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