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When China’s State Council released its white paper, “China’s National Security in the New Era”, in May 2025, it wasn’t just an exercise in political signalling. It was a blueprint—a warning shot and a reassurance, depending on who’s reading.
Framed around Xi Jinping’s doctrine of “holistic national security,” the paper reveals a regime that sees threats everywhere, and therefore reserves the right to respond everywhere—across domains, geographies, and laws.
But more than that, this white paper is a pivot point. It marks the evolution of China’s security thinking from reactive to pre-emptive, from inward-looking to global, and from Party-state control to a full-spectrum statecraft model. For China’s neighbours, and for a global order already under stress, the implications are far-reaching.
- Securing the Party, Not Just the People
At the heart of the paper is the unambiguous prioritization of “political security”, a euphemism for regime survival. The document makes it clear that defending the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the core objective of national security. That extends beyond suppressing dissent at home—it now includes shaping global narratives, undermining democratic values abroad, and building institutions that validate China’s system as stable and legitimate.
Implication: This inward-looking instinct, projected outward, translates into an aggressive posture when core interests—like Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Xinjiang—are even rhetorically challenged. The result is a more defensive, paranoid, and uncompromising China—willing to test red lines and punish non-compliance.
- Expanding the Security Perimeter—Geographically and Conceptually
The paper outlines a vast terrain of “security” concerns—from traditional military threats to outer space, deep sea, the Arctic, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence. It legitimises Beijing’s ambitions to protect its overseas interests, supply chains, and diaspora communities. In effect, China has declared the world as its potential security theatre.
Implication: Expect more overseas bases, dual-use port acquisitions, and Chinese security personnel operating abroad under the guise of protecting “national interests.” Regional states in Asia and Africa will find it harder to remain neutral or non-aligned.
- Legal Warfare Meets Norm-setting
The white paper couches its expansive vision in legal terms: “institutionalization,” “law-based governance,” “security legislation.” But this is not about international law—it is about Chinese law applied internationally. Whether through data regulations, investment screening, or counter-espionage laws that apply to foreign firms operating in China, the CCP is writing rules for others to follow.
Implication: Global companies, universities, and governments now face a China that increasingly uses legal instruments as strategic tools. It’s not just cyber or military coercion anymore—it’s lawfare with Chinese characteristics.
- The Global Security Initiative: Parallel Architecture
The white paper promotes Xi’s Global Security Initiative (GSI) as the antidote to Western “bloc politics” and U.S. hegemony. Pitched as cooperative and inclusive, it offers China’s vision of order—state sovereignty over universal rights, development over democracy, and “stability” over pluralism.
Implication: GSI is China’s bid to build a parallel security order, especially across the Global South. For countries wary of U.S. dominance or Western conditionalities, GSI offers a narrative and infrastructure—but at the cost of aligning with an authoritarian model.
- Militarisation of Resilience
From disaster preparedness to food and energy security, every domain of life is now securitized. This is not unique to China—but in China’s case, it aligns tightly with military-civil fusion, allowing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to draw on civilian technologies, logistics, and personnel for strategic advantage.
Implication: The line between civilian and military is vanishing. In any crisis—whether over semiconductors or sea lanes—Chinese civilian assets (from telecom firms to shipping lines) can be activated for strategic goals. This complicates deterrence and raises the risk of escalation from grey-zone incidents.
- Taiwan: The Unspoken Core
While Taiwan isn’t mentioned by name in every paragraph, it looms large. The emphasis on “sovereignty,” “external interference,” and “readiness to act” is clearly directed at the Taiwan Strait. The white paper pre-positions any future Chinese action—military, cyber, or economic—as a defensive necessity, not aggression.
Implication: The document doesn’t just justify potential conflict over Taiwan—it reframes it as pre-emptive self-defence. For the U.S. and allies in the Indo-Pacific, this lowers the threshold for Chinese use of force and narrows space for diplomacy.
The Final Word
In sum, this white paper reflects a China that is institutionalizing authoritarianism as a strategic framework. It seeks to insulate itself from instability, while extending its ability to shape global affairs. It is not content with being a regional power with global interests—it is claiming the right to be a global shaper of regional orders.
For democracies and open societies, the challenge is profound. Not just in military or economic terms—but in the ideological and normative space. The battle lines are increasingly about whose definitions of security, sovereignty, and stability will dominate the coming era.
Ramananda Sengupta
In a career spanning three decades and counting, I’ve been the foreign editor of The Telegraph, Outlook Magazine and the New Indian Express. I helped set up rediff.com’s editorial operations in San Jose and New York, helmed sify.com, and was the founder editor of India.com. My work has featured in national and international publications like the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Global Times and Ashahi Shimbun. My one constant over all these years, however, has been the attempt to understand rising India’s place in the world.
I can rustle up a mean salad, my oil-less pepper chicken is to die for, and it just takes some beer and rhythm and blues to rock my soul.
