Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council has warned that China's new ethnic unity law functions as a quasi-constitutional instrument personally shaped by Xi Jinping to advance forced unification with Taiwan — and to shore up his own political survival ahead of an expected fourth term.
MAC Chairman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) told a radio program on July 3 that the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which took effect July 1, represents a distinct escalation in Beijing's legal strategy toward Taiwan. Article 10 of the law states that all citizens of the People's Republic of China have a duty to safeguard national unification and the unity of the country's ethnic groups, and to protect national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
Beijing Moves From Opposing Independence to Demanding Unification
Chiu said the law's official name — centered on "ethnic unity" — obscures its real function. In substance, he argued, it uses the language of ethnic solidarity to package a legal obligation toward unification that now applies to all Taiwanese people.
He contrasted the new law with Beijing's 2005 Anti-Secession Law, which was primarily aimed at deterring Taiwanese independence. The ethnic unity law, he said, pushes China's legal campaign into a new phase: rather than merely opposing independence, Beijing is now legally mandating support for unification. Chiu warned that once both opposing independence and actively promoting unification become codified duties, virtually any cross-strait exchange activity deemed insufficiently supportive of unification could expose participants to sanctions under the law.
Law's Preamble Gives It Quasi-Constitutional Weight
Chiu pointed to a structural detail he said signals the law's unusual political weight: it is the first Chinese law in three decades to include a formal preamble, a feature typically reserved for China's constitution. That, he said, effectively elevates the statute to a "quasi-constitutional" basic law carrying significant political, declaratory, and directional authority.
He noted that the legislation originated during Xi's third term beginning in 2023, was reviewed and passed during China's "Two Sessions" in March 2026, and took effect July 1. Chiu said Chinese authorities have themselves described it as the first bill in more than thirty years to be studied directly by the Communist Party's Politburo, with Xi personally involved in its drafting — a sign, he said, of how much importance Beijing's leadership attaches to the measure.
Xi's Fourth-Term Ambitions Seen As Driving Motive
Chiu linked the law's timing directly to Xi's political calendar, noting that Xi is expected to seek a fourth term as China's top leader next year. He argued that Xi's claim to indispensability rests on the promise of completing what the Communist Party calls the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" — a task Xi has consistently tied to achieving unification with Taiwan.
According to Chiu, Xi has long connected cross-strait unification, national rejuvenation, and ethnic unity as a single political narrative. He suggested that as China faces a slowing economy and rising unemployment, both of which have raised public doubts about the legitimacy of Xi's continued rule, the ethnic unity law offers Xi a mechanism to reassert his authority by framing unification as an unfinished historic mission only he can complete.
Hong Kong, Tibet Precedents Fuel Taiwan's Fears
Chiu said the law marks the first time Beijing has formally folded Taiwan into its ethnic affairs legal framework, a shift from the incentive-based "benefits for Taiwan" policies China has typically used in the past. He warned that comparable legal frameworks applied to Hong Kong and Tibet have historically produced troubling outcomes, including intensified surveillance and restrictions on religious practice, free expression, and broader civil liberties.
Chiu also cautioned that the law effectively eliminates any middle ground for Taiwanese citizens: where Beijing previously targeted individuals actively advocating independence, the law now theoretically exposes anyone who does not affirmatively support unification, or who declines to state a position at all, to potential consequences.
Taipei Vows Tighter Scrutiny Of Cross-Strait Exchanges
Chiu said Taiwan's government would strengthen review procedures for cross-strait exchange activities going forward, aiming to preserve what he called a healthy and orderly exchange environment while applying stricter scrutiny to programs suspected of serving Beijing's united-front objectives. He said Taiwan would continue to oppose and counter what it characterizes as Chinese transnational repression.
