China’s Biosecurity Law is all set to come into force on April 15, 2021. It is the day China observes its National Security Education Day. The stated objective of the law is to strengthen regulations on the conduct of biotechnology research and development activities in China. However, the timing of the announcement of such a law at this juncture of time, when the world is still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, is sufficient enough to raise doubts that whether this law is a by-product of the criticism China has been facing for being the origin of the virus.
The law has already been approved by the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress back in October 2020. Lingering its enactment for as long as 6 months post-approval, in contrast to swift effecting the New Defence Law within a week of its approval on December 26, also seems deceptive. If China really needs this long gestation period for the enactment of its Biosecurity Law, it implies…