China adds space and Arctic to national security law

Legal protection for China’s research activities in space, the polar regions and the deep sea is set to be strengthened, as the topics have been added to a draft national security law.

A national security commission was set up recently to strengthen China’s security in areas including politics, culture, the military, the economy, technology and the environment. ICT and cybersecurity were already on the list, and the commission has now decided to add other topics of interest for research and innovation, according to Reuters.

“Some standing committee members, participants and departments suggested that in space, the deep sea, polar regions and other strategic new frontiers, China has real and potential major national interests and faces security threats and challenges,” the official Xinhua news agency is reported to have said.