Chinese Military Pushes For Wartime Law Amid Tension Over Taiwan.

In light of the rising tensions over Taiwan with the US, a media report here on Saturday stated that the Chinese military is pressuring the government to introduce wartime legislation to defend the country’s sovereignty and national interests with force if necessary.

During the current session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s legislature, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deputies urged the urgent need for such legislation, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper.

The National People’s Congress (NPC), known as the rubber-stamp Parliament for its routine endorsements of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) proposals, is mainly composed of PLA deputies.

China should speed up law-making for the military, according to PLA deputy Wu Xihua, who was one of those advocating for wartime legislation.

Another PLA deputy, Ye Dabin, said: “Considering our wartime needs, (we) should begin studying wartime legislation in a timely and systematic manner,” according to the Post.

China should push for the “introduction of laws such as the mobilisation of reserve forces,” according to Zhang Like, commander of the Shandong Provincial Military District.

The establishment of a military base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, as well as naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia, are just a few of the recent expansions in the PLA’s overseas operations that other deputies have called for legislative changes to address.

The “rationality and legitimacy” of the Chinese military’s overseas operations, according to Yuan Yubai, a former commander of the Southern Theatre Command, should be improved by Beijing bolstering legal research and studying international laws about national defense.