In the middle of the night on June 30, the Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee published the Hong Kong national security legislation. Aside from publicly declaring its support for the people of Hong Kong, what other steps could Taiwan feasibly take as a strategic response?
On July 1, the day of the legislation’s enactment, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) set the tone of the government’s response, saying: “This [law] is an imperial edict from an imperialist China to all citizens of the world.”
This raises a question directly related to Taiwan’s national security: How to mobilize all external forces and muster the support of friends and diplomatic allies to build a unified front to pass laws that counter the significant global threat the Chinese legislation poses to human rights and security.
The key section of the legislation is Article 38, which says: “This law shall apply to offenses under this law committed against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from outside the region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the region.”
This chilling clause is far worse than anyone had predicted.
Beijing has unilaterally imposed legislation that not only governs all Hong Kong residents, but also citizens of any country residing outside of Hong Kong who breaches its terms.
Beijing might use every means at its disposal to enforce the law and extend that enforcement worldwide. It would not be possible to avoid falling foul of the law simply by leaving, or avoiding travel to, Hong Kong. Anyone who expresses dissenting views toward China’s or Hong Kong’s governments, who currently resides in, or travels to, a country which maintains an extradition treaty with China, could be extradited there.
Beijing imposing all-pervasive security legislation comes as no surprise to people in the Chinese-speaking world, who are used to the Chinese terror threat. However, it has caught people in the US, Europe and other nations completely by surprise.
Aside from a small number of foreign Sinologists, such as Columbia University professor Andrew Nathan, most foreigners outside of China are still unable to comprehend the severity of the situation.
If Taiwan is unable to clearly and effectively communicate the China threat to the outside world, there is a risk that in the event of an attack, it might be left to fend for itself. There is no doubt that, once Beijing has “taken care of” Hong Kong, it will turn its attention to Taiwanese who oppose unification with China.
Beijing will create a chilling effect on a global scale using coercion, threats, legal sanctions and other means to weaken Taiwan so that it can achieve unification by force at a minimal cost to itself.
Given the severity of the situation, Taiwanese diplomats must take immediate steps to warn key international players, including the US, Japan and the EU.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shown that it is willing to become involved, and it has become a leader in the response to the Hong Kong national security legislation.
The situation is such that it is simply not enough to make empty promises and go through the motions. The ministry’s most important task is to find a way to persuade major international nations to develop a concrete package of targeted sanctions to force Beijing to change tack.
The gravity of the situation is something that must be fundamentally clear to every Taiwanese.
Tzou Jiing-wen is the editor-in-chief of the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
Translated by Edward Jones
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