Former Canadian deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland has drawn parallels between China’s recently enacted law on ethnic unity and the pretext used by Russia to justify its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a security forum in Taiwan on Tuesday, Freeland urged democratic nations to strongly oppose Beijing’s new legislation, which she warned could be used to target individuals and groups globally under broad, undefined criteria.
The law, known as the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, came into effect on July 1 and includes provisions allowing China to prosecute persons outside its borders for acts that it deems to "undermine ethnic unity and progress" or foment ethnic division. Critics say the law’s vague language gives Beijing wide latitude to interpret and enforce its mandates, raising concerns about expanded extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Freeland highlighted Article 63 of the law as particularly troubling, comparing it to the rationale Russian President Vladimir Putin used before launching a full-scale war against Ukraine. She recalled Putin’s 2021 essay asserting that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people,” a justification later cited to legitimize Russia’s military actions. According to Freeland, such ethnic and cultural claims provide a disturbing model for China’s approach to sovereignty disputes, especially regarding Taiwan.
Taiwan, a self-governing democracy of 24 million people, remains under threat from China, which regards the island as a breakaway province and has not ruled out forcibly establishing control under the banner of “reunification.” Taiwanese officials have expressed concern that Beijing’s new law further empowers it to pursue activists and perceived separatists beyond its borders, potentially undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty and security.
Freeland, who served as Canada’s deputy prime minister and finance minister before stepping down in January 2026, also drew on her experience reporting on Ukraine’s independence in 1991 and her tenure during Russia’s recent invasion. She cautioned against appeasement of authoritarian regimes, contending that Western hesitation in response to Russia’s earlier actions in Georgia and Crimea emboldened Putin to escalate. “We taught Putin to believe we would not have the resolve to support Ukraine,” she said.
Emphasizing Taiwan’s strategic role in global supply chains, particularly its dominance in semiconductor manufacturing, Freeland argued that the island offers critical leverage for democracies seeking to reduce dependence on authoritarian states such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. She called for increased support of Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a major Pacific Rim trade bloc that includes Canada.
Freeland concluded by underscoring the importance of clear, united international resolve to preserve peace in the Taiwan Strait. “The peace of the Strait of Taiwan will be kept by the plainness with which the world’s democracies say in advance that we will not accept that peace being broken,” she said, calling for solidarity with Taiwan and recognition of its democratic achievements.
China’s embassy in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, the state-owned Global Times criticized the forum where Freeland spoke, describing it as a platform for “former and marginal foreign politicians” promoting “Taiwan independence.”
Currently, Freeland serves as economic development adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leads the Rhodes Trust, which administers the Rhodes Scholarship.