China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office used its regular press briefing on October 14 to restate Beijing's commitment to eventual reunification and to outline what it describes as extensive legal protections for Taiwanese people and companies operating on the mainland, according to Xinhua.
Spokesperson Chen Binhua told reporters in Beijing that resolving the Taiwan question and achieving full reunification remains a long-standing historical task for the Communist Party of China and is presented by Beijing as a necessary step toward national rejuvenation, Xinhua reported. Chen was responding to questions about a speech delivered by Xi Jinping at a reception marking the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
According to Xinhua, Chen said that speech conveyed sincerity toward deepening cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, expressed firm opposition to separatist forces and outside interference, and demonstrated confidence in advancing reunification. Chen added that his office would study and implement the remarks, continue to uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, and work to expand exchanges and integrated development across the strait.
Chen also directed a message at people in Taiwan, urging them to align with what he called the broader historical trend and to join in safeguarding what Beijing describes as the shared homeland of the Chinese nation. He framed reunification and national rejuvenation as a common future, Xinhua reported.
Why it matters
The briefing comes at a time when cross-strait relations remain a central fault line in East Asian politics, and Beijing's public messaging on Taiwan is closely watched for shifts in tone and emphasis. Chen's remarks pair the unification objective with a detailed defense of how Taiwanese investors are treated under mainland law — a combination that suggests Beijing wants to keep economic engagement open even as political tensions persist.
The legal protections Chen described are not new, but his decision to lay them out at length signals that Beijing views them as a selling point for Taiwanese business owners weighing whether to keep or expand operations on the mainland. For companies with cross-strait exposure, the practical question is whether those protections hold up in individual disputes, not simply whether they exist on paper.
A legal framework built over two decades
Chen walked reporters through what he described as a layered system of rules governing the rights of Taiwanese people on the mainland. At the top of that structure, he said, sits the Anti-Secession Law, with the Law on the Protection of Investments by Taiwan Compatriots and its implementing rules forming the core, supplemented by other national laws, administrative regulations, local ordinances, policy documents, judicial interpretations and agreements reached between the two sides' semi-official bodies, according to Xinhua.
He said enforcement mechanisms have been built out as well, including a complaint and coordination system that takes account of interests on both sides of the strait. On the judicial side, Chen described a dispute-resolution model that combines arbitration, mediation and court proceedings, and he pointed to legal services such as notarization, mediation, legal aid, consultation and training that are meant to help Taiwanese residents resolve conflicts without going to court.
Chen argued that this framework allows Taiwanese people to experience fairness and justice in their daily lives and individual cases, and to see what he called a sound business environment and the results of comprehensive law-based governance, Xinhua reported.
Complaint offices and a channel with the KMT
Chen also detailed the institutional side of the protections. He said the Taiwan Affairs Office established a dedicated complaint and coordination bureau in 2005, and that local Taiwan affairs offices set up corresponding divisions or service centers for Taiwanese residents. According to Xinhua, Chen said the move drew a strong response from Taiwanese businesspeople at the time, who he said praised the creation of a body specifically responsible for protecting their rights as something without parallel elsewhere.
That mechanism, Chen said, continues to operate in accordance with laws and regulations. He added that the Taiwan Affairs Office has also set up a platform for protecting the rights of Taiwanese businesspeople through a service and liaison center linked to the Kuomintang, and that it has helped resolve related disputes. Chen said many businesspeople who received assistance expressed their thanks through various means.
He closed that portion of the briefing by stressing that everyone is equal before the law and that no one holds privileges above it. Chen said the office protects the lawful rights of Taiwanese compatriots and encouraged Taiwanese individuals and companies on the mainland to operate in compliance with the law and to defend their own interests through lawful channels.
What to watch
Beijing's next regular Taiwan Affairs Office briefing will be the near-term gauge of whether this emphasis on legal protections for Taiwanese investors develops into new policy measures or remains a restatement of existing commitments.
