China integrating lawfare into broader Taiwan strategy: U.S. report

Washington, June 4 (CNA) A U.S. congressional commission report released Thursday said China has been incorporating lawfare into its broader strategy toward Taiwan, citing its investigation of Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Puma Shen (沈伯洋) last year as a notable example.

Released by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), the report titled "The PRC's Transnational Repression and Malign Influence in 2025" documents how the Chinese Communist Party continues to export censorship and coercion beyond China's borders.

The CECC said lawfare, which refers to the use of legal systems and tools to advance political or strategic objectives, has become an increasingly common form of transnational repression, with the PRC among its most prolific practitioners.

Citing Shen as an example, the report noted he was added to a Chinese sanctions list in 2024 before authorities in Chongqing opened a criminal investigation into him and branded him a "diehard Taiwan independence separatist."

The case was the first involving a Taiwanese lawmaker since Chinese judicial authorities issued guidelines outlining punishments for what Beijing describes as "obstinate Taiwan independence" advocates, the CECC said.

The development, it added, reflects an escalation by Chinese authorities from administrative sanctions to criminal prosecutions, exemplified by Shen's case, and reinforces Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of China.

The report also discussed the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a global network of legislators established in 2020 to coordinate democratic responses to the policies and actions of the Chinese government.

According to the report, IPAC is one of the few international organizations in which Taiwan participates as a member, represented under the name "Republic of China (Taiwan)" rather than the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" designation it uses in the World Trade Organization.

As an example of what it described as China's malign influence operations overseas, the report pointed to alleged efforts to undermine IPAC's 2025 summit in Brussels where Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) delivered an address.

The report cited comments by IPAC Executive Director Luke de Pulford, who told the commission that only two of 12 invited African delegates attended the event and suggested that Chinese interference may have played a role.

Established by Congress under the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000, the CECC monitors human rights and the rule of law in China.