China has launched a campaign nationwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic to raise awareness of national security, as the fifth Chinese National Security Education Day falls on Wednesday, April 15.

The campaign, with focus on the overall concept of national security, aims to introduce both conventional and unconventional security issues to the public, according a notice issued earlier by the Ministry of Justice and a national office overseeing public legal education work.

With its emphasis on public healthcare security and biological security, this year's campaign steps up the promotion of laws and regulations in the areas of wildlife protection, emergency response, frontier health and quarantine.

Additionally, activities are being nationwide to promote laws on national security, counter-espionage, anti-terrorism, cybersecurity and nuclear safety.

Online programs to promote national security among students

Primary, elementary schools, universities and colleges across the country have also launched various programs, mainly online, to promote national security knowledge and legal education among students amid the pandemic.

China's Ministry of Education has launched a program entitled "Common Lessons on National Security Education Day 2020," on multiple online platforms, including the official website and mobile app of the Open University of China – a government-sponsored online educational institution.

In cooperation with renowned experts and prestigious domestic universities like Tsinghua University, the program features a series of lectures and courses covering various topics about national security, which are being livestreamed or posted online.

The Ministry invited Fan Weicheng, an expert in public safety from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to present the first course livestreamed on Tuesday morning about "Epidemic prevention and control from the perspective of the overall national security concept."

Various versions of animated videos for students of different ages have been released with some quiz games.

Police in various places have collaborated with local schools and participated in the campaign too, with some launching online security lectures.

Nonglinlu Primary School in Handan City, north China's Hebei Province, invited local police to disseminate knowledge of public security on Tuesday, the whole course of which was livestreamed.

April 15 was made China's National Security Education Day in 2015 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body. It was first observed in 2016 following the enactment of the National Security Law on July 1, 2015. 

The law, covering defense, finance, science and technology, culture and religion, highlights cybersecurity and demands the establishment of a coordinated, efficient crisis management system.

Over the last few years, the National Security Education Day campaign has featured pamphlets, posters and animations distributed in government organizations, schools, businesses and communities, while this year, most of on-site activities have been replaced by online promotion because of the pandemic.