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Chinese Marine Police May Begin Arresting Foreign “Offenders”

China passed the Provisions on Procedures for Marine Police Agencies to Handle Criminal Cases on May 15. The law will be in effect starting on June 15. There are concerns over whether China will use this law to arrest citizens of other countries in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

Article 15 stated:

For maritime criminal cases occurring outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the jurisdiction shall be determined in accordance with the following principles:

(3) If a foreigner commits a crime against the state or a citizen of the PRC in waters other than the territorial waters of the PRC and is punishable under the Criminal Law of PRC, he is under the jurisdiction of the marine police agency of the place where the foreigner landed, entered, or resided after entering, the jurisdiction of the marine police agency of the place where the victim resided before leaving the country or currently resides, or the jurisdiction assigned by the Chinese Maritime Police Bureau if he has not entered the country and there is either no victim or the crime is against the state of PRC.

(4) For crimes under international treaties created or participated in by PRC and within the scope for the PRC to exercise criminal jurisdiction under the treaty obligations, the jurisdiction is the marine police agency of the place where the suspect was apprehended or the place he landed or entered.

Source:
1. Epoch Times, June 1, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/6/1/n14007942.htm
2. Peking University Law Library, May 2023
https://law.pkulaw.com/chinalaw/bc12742e184847e1bdfb.html