BEIJING, June 24 - A senior Chinese official said on Wednesday that Beijing has the right to take legal action against individuals and organizations outside its territory who violate a new ethnic unity law, calling such measures lawful, necessary, and consistent with international norms.
The legislation, adopted in March and set to take effect on July 1, aims to foster a "shared" national identity across China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minority groups, which include Tibetans and Uyghurs. The law contains a clause that explicitly states 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".
That extraterritorial clause has generated particular concern in Taiwan, which Beijing claims, because officials and commentators there worry it could provide an additional legal basis for targeting Taiwanese whom Beijing views as separatists. Rights groups have also pointed to past instances in which China sought Interpol "red notices" to persuade foreign authorities to detain individuals wanted on political grounds at home.
Speaking at a news conference in Beijing about the law, Vice Justice Minister Hu Weilie addressed international reaction and criticism. He said certain Western media outlets, which he did not identify, had "distorted and misinterpreted" the overseas provision. He argued the provision "is based on China’s national conditions, conforms to legal principles, and is consistent with international practice. It is a legitimate, lawful, necessary, and feasible legal provision."
"Countries around the world all have the right to prevent separatist and destructive activities, and to maintain social solidarity and normal order, through domestic legislation," Hu said.
Hu described the overseas provision as targeting illegal acts and employing rule-of-law mechanisms to "guard against various unlawful acts involving ethnic affairs from outside the country." He added that enforcing this provision would effectively protect China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, along with the lawful rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups.
At the same time, Hu sought to reassure foreign audiences by saying the law "will not affect normal people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries, academic discussions, economic and trade cooperation, or other activities."
Observers outside China have expressed alarm about the potential reach of the law, particularly those concerned about cross-border legal action and how extraterritorial clauses might be applied. Rights groups' prior criticism regarding the use of Interpol notices for politically sensitive cases was cited in the public reaction to the law.
The debate over the law's overseas provision highlights tensions between Beijing's emphasis on national unity and the unease in some foreign constituencies about how the measure could be interpreted and enforced beyond China's borders.