Hong Kong National Security Law: The View From Taiwan

China’s new national security legislation for Hong Kong will only harden Taiwan citizens’ determination to resist Beijing’s unification offer.The Diplomat
Date: July 02, 2020
By: T.Y. Wang

Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed a new national security law for Hong Kong, which covers four categories of offenses, including “secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security.” The new legislation aims to “stop and punish activities endangering national security” and “oppose[s] the interference … by any foreign or external forces.” It allows the Communist government to establish security agencies that can openly operate in the city. As the move has placed the former British colony firmly under Beijing’s control, observers worry that it will further curtail the political freedom and the rule of law that the “one, country, two systems” unification plan has promised. This development has wider implications that go beyond Hong Kong, as the same plan has been repeatedly pitched to Taiwan by Chinese leaders who view the island as a renegade province.

At the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were divided and embarked on different paths. Since then, Taiwan has transformed itself from a one-party authoritarian regime to a full-fledged democracy while China has continued on its way of communism. Chinese leaders, nevertheless, have always considered “Taiwan’s return to the motherland” as an important step toward national rejuvenation. To entice Taipei into unification talks, Beijing has offered the “one country, two systems” framework. Essentially, the plan prescribes that the island be unified with China, and Beijing will be the central government, while Taiwan becomes a local special administrative region (hence the “one country”). After the proposed unification, the Chinese mainland would continue the practices of communism while Taiwan retains its capitalist system and enjoys a high degree of autonomy (hence the “two systems”). In attempting to force Taipei to accept its unification proposal, Beijing has isolated Taiwan internationally, backing up its claim over the island with the threat of military force.
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