TAIPEI, March 12 (Reuters) - A new Chinese law on ethnic unity could give Beijing another legal basis to go after Taiwanese it views as separatists given language it contains on protecting China's sovereignty and security, officials in Taipei say.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, already has laws and regulations against Taiwanese independence supporters, among them guidelines published in 2024 to punish "diehard" activists, including with the death penalty, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the island.
The new law, passed by China's largely rubber-stamp parliament on Thursday, aims to create a "shared" national identity among the country's 55 ethnic minority groups, which include Tibetans and Uyghurs. It does not directly mention Taiwan, whose people Beijing considers Chinese citizens, apart from a brief mention of a need to encourage people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to identify as being Chinese.
But it does say Chinese citizens "shall protect the country's sovereignty" and cites President Xi Jinping as saying everyone has to "consciously uphold national unity, national security, and social stability."
Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister at Taiwan's China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, told reporters in Taipei shortly before the law was passed in Beijing that such language could "spill over into becoming a legal basis for handling cross-Strait issues."
Asked whether it could be used as a basis for targeting those China views as supporters of Taiwan independence, he said: "It is highly possible."
"How exactly one is supposed to promote unification or promote unity is left vague and hollow, but the punishments are concrete," Shen added.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.
FEARS OF 'LONG-ARM JURISDICTION'
Taiwan has long complained about what the government calls Chinese "lawfare" against the island: passing laws to give a legal basis for targeting those it believes are separatists, including overseas.
The new law includes another clause saying people and groups beyond the borders of the People's Republic of China can be held legally accountable for undermining "ethnic unity and progress or inciting ethnic separatism."
"Many of the Chinese communists' actions are nominally presented as measures for maintaining domestic stability, but in reality they could also be transformed into long-arm jurisdiction," Shen said, referring to Chinese efforts to enforce its laws overseas.
Taiwanese officials say the new law represents a shift in tactics from Beijing: whereas previously Chinese legislation was about opposing certain beliefs, like Taiwan independence, now it threatens punishment if people do not actively promote China's unity.
"In the past, you'd be punished for supporting Taiwan independence. Now, you also have to actively support unification, or you'll get into trouble as well," one senior Taiwanese official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the matter.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
