Proposals laws against nuclear, biological and chemical terrorism and on wartime maritime capture have gained ground among lawmakers from the military to China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC).
The lawmakers from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) hold that a sound legal system on national defense and the modernization of the PLA is necessary to promote the reform and development of the armed forces.
At the on-going annual NPC session due to close Friday, 96 deputies jointly proposed a law on demarcation of border line be made, while a group of 39 deputies called for a law against nuclear, biological and chemical terrorism, and 36 others pushed for a law on wartime maritime capture.
By the end of 2001, the NPC and its Standing Committee had passed a total of 15 laws and legal decisions on national defense and the building of the armed forces. The State Council and Central Military Commission had also promulgated over 150 administrative and military regulations to this effect.
The Central Military Commission has drawn out a law-making plan
for the military for the 2001-2005 period in a bid to establish a legal framework for national defense and the armed forces by 2010.
(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2002)
