published by: China News Digest, Thursday, December 28, 1995

[CND 12/26/95] Members of China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress standing committee, are discussing plans to draft China's first nationwide legislation on martial law, AFP reports. The current draft of the law allows authorities to impose marital law if "unrest, rebellion or riot, which endanger the country's unity, security and social order, occur and no other effective measures can maintain social order and protect people's lives and property." But legislators have been emphasizing the need for legal limits on the powers authorities have under a martial law situation to be specifically outlined. The Legal Daily cited one committee member as saying, "There must be a clear distinction on the limits of authority, so that martial law can be imposed effectively." Martial law was last imposed in 1989 on two occasions: during anti-Chinese protests in Tibet and during the pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing.

(Robert Gray, Daluo JIA)