Stepping Up Security

China will establish a national security committee， improving systems and strategies for ensuring national security， according to a decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee， held on November 9-12 in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping， who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee， gave an explanation as to why the organization was established at the Party meeting. According to a report from Xinhua News Agency， Xi stated that the committee will be responsible for a range of tasks concerning national security， including formulating and implementing strategies， promoting the establishment of a legal framework， devising principles and policies， as well as researching and resolving major issues facing the nation.

China is currently facing pressure on two fronts： internationally， the country needs to safeguard its sovereignty， security and development interests； domestically， political security and social stability should be ensured， Xi said.

The president warned that the range of threats to national security， both predictable and unpredictable， has increased remarkably， leaving the country’s response system not yet fully capable of meeting the needs. A powerful platform that can help coordinate security efforts is needed， he added.

“Establishing a national security committee to unify the leadership and direction of related measures is an urgent matter，” Xi said.

In recent years， many Chinese scholars have been calling for China to establish a statelevel security body that is based on the needs of a more complex international environment.

Shi Yinhong， a professor at the School of International Studies of Beijing-based Renmin University of China， said that China prepared for setting up such an organization when the circumstances were less urgent than now. He commented that the decision to establish a national security committee shows that， as the country grows stronger and faces more complicated challenges in its diplomatic strategies， policies and national security， it needs a toplevel organization that will centralize power and coordinate related organizations.

Shi， also a member of the Counselors’Office of the State Council， an organization that provides consultation， believes the new committee will help raise the efficiency of national security strategies and policies.

Effective coordination

Li Wei， Director of the Anti-Terror Studies Center of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations， told Beijing Youth Daily that the installment of a national security committee is a significant move to improve China’s national security system.

Li said that apart from the changing international situation， the formation of the committee is also based on the needs to deal with high-risk incidents， emergencies and crisis.

According to Li， as China’s highest decision-making organization on national security affairs， the committee is expected to be led by the head of state， and will consist of officials from the ministries of foreign affairs， public security， transport， health and civil affairs， as well as military officers.

Xu Hui， a professor at Beijing-based National Defense University， told The Beijing News that the new committee would be either led by the head of state or another senior official. If it were the second， the committee would be composed of top leaders from central government departments with responsibilities related to national security and serve as a consultative organization for decision-makers.

“It would at least rank as the highest consultative organization， and would be different from a regular think tank，” Xu said.

Hu Angang， Director of the Center for China Studies of Tsinghua University， said in an interview with the website of Global Times that almost all major countries—including the United States， Russia wls4mvpVuLljIoWjQHGkRQ==and Japan—have， or plan to establish， national security bodies. He added that as the country with the world’s second largest economy and the highest foreign exchange reserves， China will no doubt face a number of national security challenges and needs an efficient and powerful organization to deal with them.

Hu also pointed out that the establishment of a national security committee would facilitate China’s exchanges with other major countries as the committee becomes more able to communicate with its foreign counterparts.

Crisis management

For the time being， several organizations hold differing responsibilities related to national security in China， such as a central leading group for national security affairs and the Ministry of State Security.

The central leading group for national security affairs， which shares staff with a central leading group for foreign affairs， was founded in September 2000 and makes decisions on major issues involving foreign affairs and national security. The group is currently headed by President Xi， and its members include the vice president， a vice premier or state councilor for foreign affairs， as well as principal officials of ministries of foreign affairs， national defense， commerce， public security and state security. Representatives of the State Council offices of Taiwan， Hong Kong， Macao and overseas Chinese affairs and information， as well as military officers， are also part of the organization.

Established in 1983， the Ministry of State Security is in charge of investigating cases that jeopardize national security， such as the leaking of national secrets， defection and espionage.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， China’s top legislature， enacted the State Security Law in 1993 and drafted the law’s implementation measures in 1994. The law has provided a legal basis for conducting work on national security.

Qu Xing， President of the China Institute of International Studies， said that with the development of technologies， issues pertaining to national security have become increasingly complicated， which often require coordination of multiple government departments.

Li said that the establishment of a national security committee would raise the level of coordination on national security， better combine the efforts of various departments and avoid waste of resources.

For example， when accidents disrupt maritime traffic， neither the transport department nor the energy department can deal with the situation alone. Even if one department were solely responsible， its emergency plan may be drafted to serve its own best interests， which might differ from the best overall solution to the crisis.

Commentator and military expert Yue Gang wrote on his personal micro-blog that in the past， foreign affairs department led the decision-making process when dealing with external threats， while comprehensive threats to national security require national defense， economic and public security departments to act in concert with one another.

“Without effective coordination between government departments， national security could be put into a disadvantageous position，”said Shen Jiru， a senior research fellow with the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Shen told The Beijing News that only a state-level agency could help to overcome interference from interest groups on decisions concerning national security. He said that incidents threatening national security—such as tsunamis， hurricanes， pandemics and financial crisis—require planning and coordinated reaction， which should be the task of the upcoming national security committee.

Strategic decisions

Xu said that China hasn’t published its full national security strategies yet， while government policies involving national security have only appeared in chapters of different documents. He suggests the national security committee focus on detailing the strategies after it takes shape.

“In the past， the primary threat to national security was foreign invasion，” Xu said. He added that non-conventional security threats， such as environmental pollution， social instability， terrorism and food safety， are attracting increasing attention.

“The national security strategies will cover military defense as well as political， economic， cultural， information and social stability，” Xu clarified.

Xu stressed that clear national security strategies will help the international community understand China’s long-term objectives and remove foreign countries’ misunderstandings regarding China’s development.

Li said that he believes operations of the national security committee will be transparent and it won’t develop into a large organization.

“The national security committee would only intervene when the handling of daily affairs goes off track or a major crisis emerges，” Li said.