GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Status

Working

Abstract

What is the significance of China’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law (ASL) specifically as a legal document? In other words, how if at all is it different for any practical purpose from a policy announcement? Would anything be different if it did not exist at all? What was the point of having the National People’s Congress issue it instead of, for example, the State Council (whose Taiwan Affairs Office in 2022 issued a White Paper)? What was the point of calling it a law, instead of something like “An Announcement to Taiwanese Compatriots,” as the NPC Standing Committee had done in 1979? This paper explores these questions, as well as the significance of an interpretive document jointly issued in May 2024 by the Supreme People’s Court and several other state bodies. It finds that while the ASL itself is of minor legal significance in the strict sense, the interpretive document represents a major escalation in China’s campaign of intimidation against Taiwan and the Taiwanese.

GW Paper Series

2024-48

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