Step up and protect Chinese interests abroad, Xi Jinping tells law enforcers
- President’s call for wider international security net follows warnings of rising offshore risks from terrorists and other countries
China needs to better protect Chinese entities and individuals abroad, President Xi Jinping told a high-level legal affairs meeting on Wednesday.
“We must hasten the establishment of a mechanism to protect the legitimate interests of Chinese organisations and nationals abroad,” Xi said, addressing the annual conference of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission in Beijing.
The commission, which is overseen by the Communist Party’s Central Committee, is responsible for all law enforcement authorities in the country, including the police force.
Xi’s call comes after Pakistani police confirmed on the weekend that a deadly attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi last year was premeditated. It also follows the arrest and release on bail in Canada last month of Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou over alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran.
Analysts said Xi’s remarks might signal greater collaboration between law enforcement organisations in China and overseas as Beijing strives to expand its security network to protect its growing international interests.
And the risks to those interests appear to be growing as tensions rise with the US and Islamic State and al-Qaeda pose a greater threat, according to a report by Beijing-based risk assessment consultancy Paitron Services and the China Overseas Development Association, a semi-official body under the National Development and Reform Commission.
