Taiwanese reporters have voiced concern to the Chinese regime over the latest draft of its new national security laws, which ignores Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress—China’s rubber-stamp legislature—recently concluded its second draft reading of China’s new National Security Act in May.
The Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) in a statement on June 3 listed four points of contention with the current iteration of China’s security laws, singling out two provisions.
Article 11 holds that the maintenance of China’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” is the “shared obligation of all the Chinese people, including compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.” Chinese people who fail to “perform national security obligations’ or threaten it are liable to face investigation and prosecution under Article 81.
ATJ is calling for the removal of the “ridiculous” Article 11 on grounds that it doesn’t respect Taiwan’s status as an independent, sovereign state. If China’s National Security Law is passed without change, then any Taiwan citizen “may be subject to investigation for legal responsibility and prosecution by the PRC authorities,” ATJ writes.
