rights activists, lawyers, journalists, bloggers, academics and other representatives of civil society are now finding their freedom curbed in a way that has not been seen for years; observes that China’s human rights record remains a matter of serious concern; 24. Expresses its deep concern at the imminent adoption of the draft Foreign NGO Management Law, as it would mean a further shrinking of space for Chinese civil society and would severely restrict freedom of association and expression in the country, including by banning ‘overseas NGOs’ that are not registered with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and provincial public security departments from funding any Chinese individual or organisation, and prohibiting Chinese groups from conducting ‘activities’ on behalf of or with the authorisation of non-registered overseas NGOs, including those based in Hong Kong and Macao; calls on the Chinese authorities to substantially revise this law in order to bring it in line with international human rights standards; 25. Expresses its concern at the new draft law on cybersecurity, which would bolster and institutionalise the practices of cyberspace censorship and monitoring and may force European companies to include mandatory backdoors in their IT infrastructure; notes the fears of Chinese reforming lawyers and civil rights defenders that this law will further restrict freedom of expression and that self-censorship will grow; stresses the severe adverse impact of both the cybersecurity and NGO laws on the activities of European businesses and institutions in the PRC, and therefore calls on the European Council, the EEAS and the Commission to continue to complain forcefully to the Chinese authorities against these highly controversial measures; is concerned by China´s broad definition of ´national security´ and ´major threats´ in its new national security law, which includes ´harmful cultural influences´ as a threat; concludes that this law formulates China’s national security interests in so broad and vague a manner as to give the Chinese authorities virtually unrestricted powers to move against actions, persons or publications they disapprove of; 26. Expresses its concern that, although the anti-corruption campaign launched by the Chinese leadership is a commendable effort to foster citizens’ trust in the government, it is characterised by a lack of transparency and in most cases does not follow the rule of law; observes that in some cases the campaign is being misused for internal fights and to foster the role and power of the CPC; regrets, however, that this campaign has been conducted in ways that further undermine the rule of law, with accused officials allegedly held in an unlawful detention system, deprived of basic legal protections, and often coerced to confess; 27. Expresses its sympathy with the families and friends of the more than 173 victims of the devastating explosions in the port city of Tianjin on 12 August 2015, which displaced thousands of residents; notes the increasing number of peaceful mass environmental protests in different parts of the country; points to the illegal storage of thousands of tonnes of highly toxic chemicals at the illegal distance of less than 600 m from residential areas; regards the slow and secretive official information policy concerning the Tianjin disaster as highly counterproductive, particularly in combination with the censorship of social media reports of this major tragedy; underlines the importance of the implementation of all industrial safety standards in accordance with Chinese and international legislation, and calls on the Chinese government to raise safety and environmental standards of hazardous productions, bringing them in line with China’s own laws in the first place;