Lai’s Warning About China’s ‘Red Terror’ And Legal Warfare

Map of China and surrounding countries in East and South Asia — Photo: Bennian / Shutterstock

Taiwan’s president just warned that Beijing’s new “ethnic unity” law could reach across borders to punish people far beyond China’s shores.

Story Snapshot

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told his ruling party to unite against Beijing’s “red terror” and legal warfare.
Lai says China’s new Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law could enable cross-border repression of people Taiwan calls free citizens.
He reaffirmed that Taiwan is already a sovereign nation, the Republic of China, not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China.
Beijing insists Taiwan is part of China and dismisses criticism of its laws as political “heresy” and foreign interference.

Lai’s Warning About ‘Red Terror’ And Legal Warfare

At the Democratic Progressive Party’s annual convention in Taipei, President Lai Ching-te told party members that Taiwan must “never become China’s Taiwan” and must stand firm against what he called Beijing’s “red terror.” He said China is using laws and pressure, not just weapons, to try to bring the island under its control. Lai framed this as a fight to protect Taiwan’s democracy and free way of life from foreign intimidation.

Lai focused especially on China’s new Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, which took effect on July 1 after being passed by the National People’s Congress in March. The law orders officials, schools, media, companies, churches, families, and online platforms to push a single, state-defined Chinese national identity. It explicitly calls for more exchanges with Taiwan to deepen a sense that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait “belong to the same Chinese nation.”

How China’s New Law Reaches Beyond Its Borders

The most alarming part for many in Taiwan is Article 63 of the law. That article says organizations and individuals outside China can be held legally responsible for actions Beijing claims damage ethnic unity or cause division. It does not spell out penalties or how China would enforce such claims abroad. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry says this wording opens the door to “long-arm jurisdiction” and transnational repression far beyond China’s borders.

At a party meeting, Lai argued that the law is deliberately vague about what counts as “harming ethnic unity” or “sowing ethnic division,” which gives Chinese authorities broad room to target critics. Rights group Amnesty International has warned that the statute pressures ethnic groups to adopt one state-defined identity dominated by Han Chinese culture. Lai told party leaders he fears a chilling effect as people in Taiwan and other countries censor themselves to avoid becoming targets.

Competing Claims About Taiwan’s Sovereignty

In his convention speech, Lai repeated a position he has laid out since taking office: that Taiwan is already an independent country, formally known as the Republic of China. He has stated in earlier addresses that “the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” and that the People’s Republic of China “has no right to represent Taiwan.” This message fits his long record as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence” who wants to resist Chinese pressure.

Beijing rejects this view completely and claims Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. Chinese officials say there is only “one China” and that the People’s Republic of China is the only legal government representing the entire Chinese people. When Lai previously declared Taiwan is “of course” a sovereign nation, China’s government blasted his words as “heretical,” confrontational, and provocative. In its own speeches and white papers, Beijing portrays “reunification” with Taiwan as a historic mission that will not be stopped.

Rising Rhetoric And Global Stakes

Lai’s latest “red terror” warning continues a pattern that began under former president Tsai Ing-wen, who said in 2020: “We are an independent country already and we call ourselves the Republic of China, Taiwan.” Research on Democratic Progressive Party rule since 2016 finds that party leaders have steadily framed China as a growing threat while pushing a stronger Taiwanese identity separate from China. That rhetoric has hardened as Beijing has ramped up military drills and economic pressure around the island.

International analysts say this clash of stories—Taiwan asserting de facto sovereignty, China insisting on “one China”—is now backed by sharpened tools on both sides. Beijing uses military exercises, diplomatic isolation, and laws like the Anti-Secession Law and the new ethnic unity statute to enforce its claim. Taiwan, in turn, is trying to strengthen its defenses and its democracy, while warning that China’s model of control threatens freedom well beyond the Taiwan Strait. For Americans already worried about distant elites and creeping government power, Lai’s speech is another sign that these struggles over law, identity, and control are going global.