Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday, July 2, that countermeasures against China’s new ethnic unity law are under interministerial discussion. The agency described the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which took effect the day before, as a tool for “forced unification.”

“Our countermeasures are currently being discussed across ministries,” said MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) at a press briefing in Taipei.

In a statement, MAC said the law was effectively a “unification law” that imposes legal obligations on Taiwanese to “safeguard ethnic unity” and “promote unification.”

It said the government would strengthen public awareness, civil servant training, administrative reviews, assistance and protection mechanisms, and cooperation with democratic partners to oppose this “transnational repression.”

The law has also drawn international criticism. Reuters reported Thursday that the European Union expressed concern over the law’s extraterritorial application, while U.S. lawmakers said Wednesday that it gives Beijing “near limitless authority to prosecute those who would speak out against Beijing’s oppression.”

Liang said the law gives Beijing an additional legal weapon. “But in substance, even without this law, it does many of the same things anyway,” he said.