Wednesday in the Age of Reason-Munchausen (1988)

https://sinopsis.cz/en/lawfare-by-proxy-huawei-touts-independent-legal-advice-by-a-ccp-member/

“The series of warnings against Chinese technology company Huawei in various Western countries is often predicated on a legal argument: according to recent legislation, all Chinese citizens and organisations are obliged to cooperate upon request with PRC intelligence operations — and also maintain the secrecy of such operations. Such duty is explicitly stipulated in Article 7 of the 2017 “PRC national intelligence-gathering activities law” (中华人民共和国国家情报法).

This law in effect only codifies common practice in an increasingly totalitarian regime. Even before current CCP Secretary General Xi Jinping came to power, it would have been difficult for a Chinese citizen to turn down a request for cooperation from the PRC intelligence apparatus. With Xi’s centralisation of CCP power, and in an atmosphere of constant struggle against “hostile foreign forces“(境外敌对势力), refusing cooperation becomes all but impossible, regardless of the actual letter of applicable laws.

Rule by law

Ironically, the laws that now bring so much trouble to Huawei were originally adopted to streamline CCP control under the concept of “rule by law” (依法治国) — not to be mistaken for rule of law. The “rule by law” system is designed to help the CCP exercise its monopoly on power without everyday political intervention. The CCP decides what the law is, and most situations are then dealt with mechanically through approved procedures until the Party decides otherwise.”