ANALYSIS/China's new guidelines aimed at jurisdiction over Taiwan: Experts

Taipei, June 25 (CNA) China's new legal guidelines targeting advocates of Taiwan independence, including allowing trials in absentia, are aimed at gaining jurisdiction, experts told CNA on Monday.

The guidelines, issued on June 21 with immediate effect, allow courts in China to try "Taiwan independence separatists" in absentia, with "diehard" advocates of Taiwan independence convicted of inciting secession who also cause "grave harm to the state and the (Chinese) people" potentially being sentenced to death, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致), director of the Taiwan Thinktank's China Research Center, said that if under China's opaque judicial system a trial in absentia resulted in a guilty verdict, the defendant could be subject to an international arrest warrant.

Once such a warrant was issued, China would claim to countries with which it has a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) or other forms of legal agreements that the wanted person is a Chinese citizen, Wu said.

A trial in absentia would combine Beijing's "'One China' principle regarding Taiwan, asserting that China has sovereignty over Taiwan and framing it as a domestic matter," Wu added.

That could pressure other countries, especially those with MLAT or friendly diplomatic relations with China, to assist in related arrests or extraditions, he said, arguing that this long-arm jurisdiction was aimed at asserting jurisdiction over Taiwan.

Democratic countries' response

Wu contended, however, that many democratic countries provide assistance to individuals involved in political cases and will not extradite them to China.

That is especially true, he said, given China's weakened global influence, which makes it harder for Beijing to use economic incentives or pressure to compel other countries to cooperate as it has in the past.

According to China's Ministry of Justice, a total of 39 countries have established extradition treaties with China, including popular travel destinations for Taiwanese, such as South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand.

There are also 55 countries that have signed treaties with China on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, including the United States, Japan, and Australia, which mostly involves collecting and exchanging information.

Timing and reasons

The timing of China's move was also significant, said Arthur Wang (王智盛), secretary-general of the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association and an expert on cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

He said the new guidelines were issued on June 21 because the date was around one month after President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) inauguration on May 20.

"After a month of observation, they (Chinese officials) found they could not restrain Lai's responses (to cross-strait relations)," Wang said. "Therefore, I believe this was a pre-set legal tool in their toolbox for sanctions against Taiwan."

In his inaugural address on May 20, Lai called on Beijing to acknowledge Taiwan's government and reiterated his stance that the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's official name) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) are not subordinate to each other.

Despite criticism from Beijing that the statement "insisted on the position of Taiwanese independence," Lai later said on May 30 that what he said was the truth and he did not intend to provoke.

Legal approach

When asked why Chinese authorities were taking a legal approach, Wang said that China has shifted its strategy in recent years from infiltration and cognitive warfare against Taiwan to a new type of legal warfare.

This new strategy uses legal discourse to assert China's sovereignty and jurisdiction over Taiwan, supported by its influence in international law, he argued.

"Chinese military aircraft circling Taiwan and crossing the median line have become tactics that everyone has seen through," Wang said. "This new type of legal warfare, however, might create new fears and pressures for the Taiwanese people."

He added China has struggled to find a strategy to counter the internationalization of the Taiwan issue, leading to its authorities seeking a fundamental solution through legal means.

"By defining Taiwan independence and establishing long-arm jurisdiction and trials in absentia, China aims to curb the further internationalization of the Taiwan issue and prevent any subsequent adverse impact on its Taiwan policy," Wang said.