Sanoop Sajan Koshy
On May 12, China’s State Council Information Office released a white paper on “National Security in the New Era” – an extensive document that outlines China’s evolving security policy in a world the government characterizes as unstable and volatile. It’s not hard to understand why, given the heightened global uncertainty in the Asia-Pacific region, marked by changing power equations, technological competition, and ongoing flashpoints from the Taiwan Strait to the South China Sea.
The white paper presents the idea of a “holistic security” approach to national security that includes politics, economy, military, science and technology, and societal domains under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Even though the document seeks to present China as a source of stability in the Asia-Pacific, the sections on sovereignty, ideological resilience, and systemic risk management raise important questions about the implications for regional trust, global governance, and domestic freedom.
The “holistic” approach to national security is a framework first articulated by Xi Jinping. It expands the traditional idea of security to cover nontraditional security threats emerging from cyberspace, artificial intelligence, biosecurity, public health, etc. This approach declares the “people’s security” as the final aim, in order to approve citizens’ sense of “fulfilment, happiness and security.” But it strongly prioritizes “political security as the fundamental task” – referring to upholding the CCP’s absolute leadership and the socialist system – and national interests as the guiding principle.
This emphasis on political security is accompanied by an appeal for China to modernize its legal and institutional structures. The white paper highlights the recent laws introduced, covering cybersecurity, data protection, counterterrorism, etc., as part of its efforts to build a strong security shield against “black swan” (unpredictable) and “grey rhino” (high-probability) risks that could disrupt China’s modernization. It also prioritizes technological self-reliance, calling for investment in key infrastructure and indigenous innovation to minimize exposure to foreign sanctions or supply chain disruption.
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