UN OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [to 11 July 2015]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/media.aspx?IsMediaPage=true

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UN human rights chief says China’s new security law is too broad, too vague
GENEVA (7 July 2015) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Tuesday expressed deep concern about the human rights implications of a new Law on National Security adopted by China on 1 July.

The new security law covers a large spectrum of issues, including environment, defence, finance, information technology, culture, ideology, education and religion. It also defines the meaning of national security extremely broadly: it is described as the condition in which the country’s government, sovereignty, unification, territorial integrity, well-being of its people, sustainable development of its economy and society and other major interests are relatively safe and not subject to internal and external threats.

“This law raises many concerns due to its extraordinarily broad scope coupled with the vagueness of its terminology and definitions,” High Commissioner Zeid said. “As a result, it leaves the door wide open to further restrictions of the rights and freedoms of Chinese citizens, and to even tighter control of civil society by the Chinese authorities than there is already.”

National security laws need to be sufficiently precise to enable individuals to foresee the consequences of their conduct as well as to safeguard against arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement by authorities. “The law should clearly and narrowly define what constitutes a threat to national security, and identify proper mechanisms to address such threats in a proportionate manner,” Zeid said…