Guarantee for development

Updated: 2013-11-18 07:01

By Chen Xiangyang (China Daily)

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A State security committee will help promote the reform and innovation of nation's security systems and mechanisms

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, which took place from Nov 9 to 12, approved the Decisions on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, sketching out the overall reform drive for the next decade. The decision to establish a State security committee, in particular, drew much attention both at home and abroad and there were a variety of interpretations, some of which read too much into it and some of which were based on the roles of foreign organizations bearing the same name. Therefore, it is necessary to set the record straight with a more balanced interpretation.

Looking through the full text of the decisions document, which was released on Nov 15, we can see that the decision to establish a State security committee appears in the part referring to innovating the social management system with the goal of effectively solving and preventing social contradictions.

As pointed out in the decisions document, innovation of social governance must proceed with a view to maintaining the fundamental interests of the people, maximizing factors conducive to social harmony, enhancing the vitality of social development, improving the level of social governance and safeguarding national security to ensure people can live and work in peace and harmony. To effectively prevent and end social disputes and improve public security there must be improved social governance and the innovation of governance systems. In this context, the decision was made to set up a State security committee and improve national security systems and strategies to ensure national security.

"State security and social stability are preconditions for reform and development," Xi Jinping, general secretary of CPC Central Committee, said in an explanation published on Nov 15. He said that only when the nation is safe and society stable can reform and development be advanced. Xi also said it is an urgent need to establish the committee to strengthen the unified leadership of State security work.

Thus, the establishment of a State security committee will be endowed with Chinese characteristics, and it will be a planning and coordinating body with specific purposes and functions, rather than an all-encompassing one.

The plenum's decision to set up a State security committee came in response to current conditions and reflected the country's near-term and long-term strategic needs. It is tailored to the needs of the country amid its rapid changes and the development of China's national security situation to meet the changing times. With its all-round opening-up, China and the outside world have been engaging in more frequent interaction, which has brought about both development opportunities and potential risks. Being in a period of social transformation and pronounced social contradictions, the country is witnessing frequent social disputes. Meanwhile, hostile forces at home and abroad, including separatism, extremism and terrorism, are looking for opportunities to undermine social stability. With a variety of non-traditional security challenges emerging and causing serious consequences, China is faced with a more severe security situation and an increasingly arduous task of safeguarding State security. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the establishment of a strong, comprehensive and forward-looking mechanism to meet these challenges.

Setting up a State security committee also reflects the need to reform and update the current national security systems and mechanisms and strengthen central coordination to form a coherent force, improve work efficiency and enhance combat effectiveness.

The strategic decision is also in accord with China's more active participation in international affairs, as well as its great power status. Nearly all major powers have their own national security organizations. The lack of a State security committee is not compatible with China's rising international status and has thwarted its efforts to take the initiative in its interaction with other powers.

The decision to set up a State security committee has great practical significance. It will help promote the reform, integration and innovation of China's national security systems and mechanisms, and so enhance national security. The smooth operation of a State security committee will also help enhance the Party's governing capacity and provide an effective security guarantee for China's scientific, peaceful development and long-term peace and stability.

Predictably, the newly established State security committee will gradually develop into a crucial mechanism for China to promote domestic reform and coordinate international cooperation efforts, and it will become a driver for the realization of the nation's great rejuvenation.

China's State security committee must have Chinese characteristics and it is unadvisable to view and assess it by comparing it with the so-called American standard.

At first, China's State security committee will mainly focus on maintaining internal security and social stability with a view to political security. In the future, it is likely to gradually break the boundaries between internal and foreign affairs, and have stronger and more comprehensive coordinating functions, including maintaining social stability, fighting against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism and guard against the penetration of external hostile forces, and even covering fields of national defense, diplomacy, economic and financial security.

The author is deputy director of the World Politics Research Institute, affiliated to the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

(China Daily 11/18/2013 page8)

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