Key CCP Influence Organ Approves Execution ‘Blacklist’ for ‘Taiwan Separatists’

A key organ within the Chinese Communist Party’s governance system has approved a resolution calling for the creation of execution lists of Taiwanese figures for occupying Chinese forces to hunt down following a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a former Chinese diplomat said today.

Zhou Xiaoping is a nationalist blogger whom CCP general secretary Xi Jinping personally recognized during an event in Beijing almost a decade ago. According to an account of the episode by the Los Angeles Times, Xi referred to Zhou and another writer and said, “I hope you guys can produce more work that carries positive energy.” Zhou and other writers at the time were viewed as effective, though unofficial, conduits of Chinese Communist Party propaganda in an era before Xi asserted total control over China’s state and party governance structures.

Now, according to Australia-based Chinese political observer and former Chinese diplomat Han Yang, Zhou is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — a vastly influential political organ. Although it’s presented by state media as merely advisory in nature, the CPPCC actually serves the critical function of convening non-party members to serve critical CCP goals; it’s part of the party’s united-front system, which Xi has called a “magic weapon.” The united front plays a leading role in CCP efforts to bring about the absorption of Taiwan.

Zhou, in a post to the social-media site Weibo, discussed his CPPCC proposal to order the creation of a “Taiwan Province Separatist Forces Blacklist” to be posted publicly, according to a translation of his post by Han. This would be a list of Taiwanese individuals to be hunted down and killed in the aftermath of an invasion. The CPPCC’s annual meeting began over the weekend.

Zhou further wrote that the figures on the blacklist, under his proposal, would be ordered to stop advocating Taiwan’s independence, “confess their crimes,” and surrender.

“If these people persist in their wrong and continue to create division and cause cross-strait conflict, then during our special operations against Taiwan, anyone can arrest or kill them, not only without any responsibility, but also receive the Medal of Honor for Promoting Unification,” he added. It’s noteworthy that Zhou’s use of “special operation” apes the euphemism that Russian leaders used for their invasion of Ukraine.

Han later wrote on Twitter that Zhou subsequently posted that the CPPCC adopted his resolution. “It looks like the Central Propaganda Department approved this vicious message,” said Han.

Other hard-line CCP officials have recently made remarks of a similar nature, with China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, telling French media last year that a “reeducation” of Taiwan would follow a Chinese invasion. Those remarks recalled the party’s use of concentration camps to eliminate Uyghurs. Taiwanese ambassador James Lee slammed Lu’s remarks as “uncivilized” in comments to National Review at the time.

During a concurrent meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, officials announced a boost in military spending by 7.2 percent. Across the strait, Taiwan’s defense minister told his country’s parliament that the Chinese military might soon begin to enter Taiwan’s contiguous zone — within 12 nautical miles of Taiwan’s coast.