China said Tuesday it is considering new legislation better defining terrorism in order to strengthen domestic and international efforts against such acts and those who would commit them. A proposal before the national legislature would provide more specific legal definitions for terrorists and terrorist acts based on Chinese and international precedents, making it easier to bring terrorism charges, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The proposal targets those using violence, sabotage or threats in hopes of intimidating or coercing governments or international organizations. Incitement, funding or providing other support would also be considered terrorism. “Current legislation lacks specific regulations defining terrorism, terrorist organizations, and individual terrorists, affecting the fight against terrorism, control over terrorist assets, and international anti-terrorism cooperation,” Xinhua said, quoting deputy Public Security Minister Yang Huanning. The proposal is on track to eventually become a new anti-terrorism law, said Li Wei, a counterterrorism expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, a think tank affiliated with the government's main intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security. That would for the first time provide a comprehensive mechanism for specifically prosecuting terrorism, including defining such crimes and clarifying the roles of anti-terrorism bodies, as well as laying out procedures for seizing terrorist funds, Li said. “How often it is used depends on how often such acts occur, but China will now have a law which deals specifically with terrorist crimes,” he said. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the ministry was following the drafting of the new law and China was drawing from the experiences of other countries in dealing with terrorism.
