Beijing’s latest “ethnic unity” law could put Taiwanese visiting China in legal jeopardy, as room for maintaining the “status quo” risks being erased and anyone who does not voice support for unification could face fabricated charges at any moment, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) warned yesterday.
The council made the comments in a statement summarizing the findings of academics who convened for a seminar on China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) signed on Thursday last week and is to come into effect in July.
China’s ethnic unity law is broadly construed and blurs the legal red line on what constitutes as being a “supporter of Taiwanese independence,” it cited the academics as saying.
Photo: Reuters
The new legislation states that any political opinion or activity that does not support “unification” with China or identify with the Chinese ethnicity is considered separatism, they said.
This means Taiwanese who support the government’s policy of maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” can no longer expect safety on Chinese soil, the academics said.
The law aimed to transform the constitutional framework of China, not just modify Beijing’s stance on Taiwan, they said.
The law appears to be a part of Xi’s bid to bolster the Chinese Communist Party’s legitimacy amid economic and political turmoil by inventing a new ideology centered on Chinese ethnic identity, homogeneity and economic development, they said.
The legislation enshrines China’s nationalist mythology into law to construct a version of Chinese identity that suppresses the previously recognized rights of ethnic minorities to self-governance, the academics said.
This means the Chinese state now deems its perspective on history, culture, politics and society as the only one legally allowed to exist, they added.
The word “shall” appeared 53 times in the law, which was composed of 65 articles, they said.
The entities legally required to enforce “Chinese identity” include all levels of the government, educational institutions, religious organizations, enterprises and even parents, they said.
This suggests that Beijing designed the law to deal with disobedient citizens by using a wide range of punitive measures ranging from administrative to criminal penalties, they said.
The mandate for constructing “interbedded communities” in ethnic minority regions is a euphemism for power projection, as forcing non-Han groups to assimilate serves to facilitate China’s efforts to extract natural resources from its periphery, the academics said.
The assimilation of a subjugated population and the absorption of their resources is a formula for total control that should alarm Taiwanese, they said.
Requiring local governments and educational institutions to promote assimilation suggests that cultural and educational exchanges with China would be more politicized than ever, they added.
China’s use of “united front” tactics in unofficial interactions would likely intensify in the wake of the ethnic unity law, the academics said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS