China dismissed US and EU criticism of the country’s new law on ethnic unity as a “malicious smear” and interference in its internal affairs on Friday, legislation one senior Taiwanese official likened to an imperial edict given its global sweep.
The law, which went into effect on Wednesday, gives Beijing the basis to take action against people outside its borders.
China passed the law in March to create a “shared” national identity among the country’s 55 ethnic minority groups, which include Tibetans and Uyghurs, some of whom chafe under Chinese governance and have often staged protests, some of them violent.
The law includes a 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.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said strengthening the rule of law is conducive to better protecting the rights and interests of all ethnic groups and enhancing ethnic unity.
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“Certain countries cling to ideological bias and, out of political manipulation, turn a blind eye to China’s economic and social development and its achievements in human-rights governance,” he said when asked about the US and EU concerns.
They “maliciously smear” China’s ethnic policies by fabricating information, interfering in China’s internal affairs and undermining China’s ethnic unity, Guo said.
“We urge the countries concerned to respect the basic facts, stop spreading lies, and stop hyping up so-called ethnic issues.”
Taiwan concern
The law sparked alarm in Chinese-claimed Taiwan in particular, because it could give Beijing another legal basis to go after Taiwanese it views as separatists.
Chiu Chui-cheng, head of Taiwan’s China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council, told a Taiwanese radio station earlier on Friday that the law’s scope is “global and almost boundless”.
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Taiwanese should be wary of travelling to countries with close ties to Beijing, like Belarus and Cambodia, where they could risk extradition to China, he added.
“It is almost like an imperial edict: its long-arm jurisdiction seems to reach everywhere, as if the whole world must obey it,” Chiu said.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and China’s legal system has no jurisdiction or authority in Taiwan.
On Thursday, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said there was “no need for concern” for visiting Taiwanese, but also offered a warning.
“If Taiwan independence forces, for the purpose of pursuing independence, carry out acts of splitting the nation and undermining ethnic unity, they will certainly be punished in accordance with the law,” she added.