A good and effective law to fight terrorism

The clauses in the new law, which require technology companies to provide technical interfaces, decryption and other assistance in anti-terror investigations, will not necessarily lead to a breach of privacy and infringement on intellectual property rights, because the requirement for technical assistance will go through a rigid procedure of approval and authorization, and its use will be strictly limited to public security organs and national security agencies.

While pointing the finger at the new law, the detractors seem to be turning a blind eye to the fact that many countries' laws stipulate that technology companies are obliged to cooperate in terror-related surveillance and investigations. Take last year's United States' Freedom Act for example. The act allows the bulk collection of US citizens' metadata by phone companies and various business records that the government could sift through later.

Many people may also be aware of the United Kingdom's Emergency Data Retention and Investigation Powers Bill in 2014, which allows police and security agencies to acquire customer data from telecom and Internet companies in order to combat criminal and terrorist activities. Also, France, Canada, Japan and many other countries have enacted similar laws to fight terrorism and strengthen security. But we have not yet heard that the laws have directly influenced the trade and investment in or of any country.

Like the US and French people, the Chinese people will also never forget the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the US or the Nov 13, 2015, Paris massacre. As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: "China is also a victim of terrorism, and cracking down on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement should become an important part of the international fight against terrorism."

Therefore, China should firmly crack down on terrorism, rather than waver in its resolve because of the unfair and biased accusations by some countries and media outlets, because in the long run, the new anti-terror law will help build a better and safer country and strengthen the global efforts to eradicate terrorism.