In defining terrorism, China should heed global practices
Zhou Zunyou says its landmark anti-terrorism law needs further work
Last month, news media reported that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress was reviewing the second draft of China's first comprehensive anti-terrorism law.
The first draft of this law was published last year for public consultation.
In Article 104, the term "terrorism" referred to "any thought, speech or activity that, by means of violence, sabotage or threat, aims to generate social panic, influence national policymaking, create ethnic hatred, subvert state power, or split the state".
The draft law immediately attracted a lot of attention both at home and abroad.
In January, Human Rights Watch accused China of attempting to use the law to legitimise ongoing human rights violations and to facilitate future abuses. Among the concerns raised by the human rights group, the definition of terrorism ranked top.
A high point of the second draft is to shift the initial definition of terrorism from "thought, speech or activity" to "advocacy or activity". Taking note of this change, Chinese and foreign media enthusiastically pointed out that "thought" had been removed from the definition.
