Following the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) implementation of its Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress on July 1, the legislation has drawn international attention and prompted growing calls for countermeasures.
On July 14, bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress introduced the Stop Transnational Repression Act, which would increase criminal penalties for agents of foreign governments who coerce or intimidate individuals within the United States in response to the CCP’s increasingly aggressive campaign of transnational repression, Reuters reported.
Ye Yaoyuan, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of St. Thomas at Houston told Liberty Times, a Taiwanese media that Taiwan should follow the example of the U.S. Senate proposal by either enacting dedicated legislation to address transnational repression or adopting a Foreign Agents Act to handle such cases.
Bipartisan US lawmakers introduce the Stop Transnational Repression Act
On July 1, the CCP began enforcing the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. Article 63 of the law stipulates that organizations and individuals outside the People’s Republic of China who engage in activities deemed to “undermine ethnic unity and progress” or “incite ethnic separatism” may be held legally liable under Chinese law. The provision has sparked widespread international concern.
In response, on July 14, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and Republican Senator John Curtis jointly introduced the Stop Transnational Repression Act. The bill would explicitly codify transnational repression as a federal criminal offense and make it a crime for agents of foreign governments to engage in threats, coercion, violence, or similar acts against individuals within the United States. Violators could face penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to US$100,000.
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According to Reuters, the bill defines “transnational repression” as acts committed by agents of a foreign government—or individuals acting on their behalf—to harass, coerce, threaten, or intimidate others, including through violence or conduct that creates a reasonable fear of death. If enacted, it would mark the first time that transnational repression is explicitly defined as a federal crime under U.S. law and would impose tougher criminal penalties for such offenses.
Ye Yaoyuan: Taiwan should enact dedicated legislation or adopt a Foreign Agents Act
Ye Yaoyuan, in an interview with Liberty Times on July 15, said that the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress is a vaguely worded, extraterritorial law that is tied neither to nationality nor territory. Under the law, anyone deemed by the Chinese Communist Party to have undermined its agenda of “promoting ethnic unity” can be punished. In his view, the law’s greatest concern lies in its potential for long-arm jurisdiction and transnational repression.
Commenting on Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, which on July 14 advanced a resolution condemning the CCP’s “ethnic unity promotion” policy directly to its second reading before referring it for cross-party negotiations, Ye argued that a condemnation resolution is merely a political statement with limited practical effect.
“The best way to respond to the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress is to counter it through the rule of law—by enacting dedicated domestic legislation to address and deal with it,” he said.
Ye Yaoyuan pointed out that the Stop Transnational Repression Act proposed by U.S. senators represents one possible approach—namely, enacting dedicated legislation specifically to counter the CCP’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. Another option, he said, would be to adopt a Foreign Agents Act, using such legislation to address cases of transnational repression. In his view, Taiwan should follow the U.S. example. However, he noted that the opposition parties, which currently hold a majority in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, are unwilling to risk antagonizing Beijing, making it extremely difficult for the legislature to pass laws that directly counter the CCP.
Ye further stated that the swift introduction of the Stop Transnational Repression Act by U.S. senators demonstrates their rejection of the nature of the CCP’s new law. However, he added that the United States would likely need to see actual cases involving transnational repression or extraterritorial (long-arm) jurisdiction before taking concrete countermeasures. At the current stage, he said, the legislation primarily serves as a public declaration to raise awareness among the American public and reflects Washington’s collective determination to confront the CCP.
Overseas organizations issue joint statement urging governments to reject the law’s extraterritorial reach
The CCP’s new law has drawn widespread criticism since it came into effect. On July 13, Hong Kong Watch, a London-based human rights organization, led 54 overseas community groups and civil society organizations in issuing a joint open letter calling on governments around the world to make it clear that China’s domestic laws have no extraterritorial legal effect and cannot be used to assert jurisdiction over people residing in other countries.
The signatories include organizations representing overseas Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Taiwanese. The open letter condemns the CCP’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, arguing that it further imposes on different ethnic communities a state-defined, single and exclusive standard of identity.
The letter specifically highlights Article 20 of the law, which requires parents and legal guardians to “fulfill their responsibilities for family education” by guiding minors to “love the Communist Party of China, love the motherland, love the people, and love the Chinese nation, and foster the concept that all members of the Chinese nation are one family.” It also stipulates that parents and guardians must not instill in minors ideas deemed detrimental to ethnic unity and progress.
Article 63 of the law has attracted particular attention. It stipulates that “organizations and individuals outside the People’s Republic of China who engage in acts that undermine ethnic unity and progress or promote ethnic separatism against the People’s Republic of China shall be held legally liable in accordance with the law.”
The joint letter argues that this provision echoes the extraterritorial jurisdiction claims found in both the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. It contends that these laws assert the extraterritorial application of China’s domestic legislation and, in practice, facilitate the pursuit, intimidation, coercion, and silencing of Hong Kongers and other overseas communities.
The signatory organizations also noted that the law has already prompted widespread concern and criticism from various quarters, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, several members of the U.S. Congress, and Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).
The open letter calls on governments around the world to formally condemn the CCP’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress and its claim of extraterritorial jurisdiction, and to state unequivocally that the law has no legal effect over residents or citizens of other countries.
In addition, the signatories urge legislatures worldwide to amend their domestic laws to strengthen legal protections for Hong Kongers and other overseas communities residing within their jurisdictions, thereby preventing and countering Beijing’s campaign of transnational repression against these communities and individuals.
