The Chinese regime’s highest court issued a detailed interpretation of a criminal procedure law on Feb. 4, stipulating that trial in absentia can be applied to defendants who “seriously endanger national security” and are based outside China, according to Chinese media reports. “Trial in absentia” refers to criminal proceedings in which a defendant is not physically present to attend said proceedings. China observers worry that the move is aimed at intimidating Chinese dissidents who live abroad. In 2018, China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, enacted amendments to its criminal procedure law to allow more courts to try people in absentia. But it was not until this month that China’s Supreme Court gave a clear legal interpretation of it. The guidance will be implemented on March 1 this year. The court defined “crimes of endangering national security” as “organizing, planning, and implementing division of the country, undermining national unity, inciting …