China passes 'Anti-Foreign Sanctions' law to counter 'unilateral sanctions'

摘要

China's National People's Congress on Thursday passed a law subsequently signed by President Xi Jinping that is aimed at enabling Beijing to respond to sanctions issued by other countries. The NPC acted on the law after just its second reading of the draft proposal on Monday. A Chinese NPC official told state-run Xinhua that the law was drafted, reviewed and passed quickly because "This is an urgent need to counter the hegemonism and power politics of certain Western countries and to safeguard national sovereignty," according to an informal translation. "The main purpose of the anti-foreign sanctions law is to counter, counterattack, and oppose the so-called 'unilateral sanctions' imposed on China by foreign countries, safeguard my country's sovereignty, security, and development interests, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and organizations," the official said.