Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and other top Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials yesterday condemned Beijing after it announced that they had been placed on a no-entry list and would be subject to further sanctions.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said that Taiwanese independence advocates and their family members would face life-long legal consequences should they set foot in China, including Hong Kong and Macau, or conduct business with entities there.
It was the first time China announced concrete sanctions against who it calls supporters of Taiwanese independence.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The office named Su, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) as part of “an extremely small minority of diehard Taiwanese separatists who caused extreme harm ... to the fundamental interests of the Chinese race.”
China would also take “any other necessary measures” against these people, Zhu said.
She said that the message China wants to send to supporters of Taiwanese independence is: “Those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland and split the country will never end up well and will be spurned by the people and judged by history.”
During a plenary session at the legislature, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) asked Su to comment on the news before congratulating him for being a “Beijing-certified Taiwanese patriot.”
Su replied: “These foreigners are meddling in Taiwan’s domestic affairs. I fight for Taiwan and I will not give in to intimidation for doing the right thing.”
Separately, You said: “China’s Xinhua news agency is yet again raising my international recognition, and I must say I am quite proud of it; Miss Zhu has my sincere thanks.”
“However, I have no plans to run for office and she should not trouble herself with me,” he added.
China last year said it was compiling a global watch list of Taiwanese independence supporters, adding that those on the list would be punished.
The sanctions announced yesterday are likely to have little effect on the Taiwanese politicians, as they are unlikely to travel to China.
China has ratcheted up military, economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016 after a campaign many understood to be in support of Taiwanese independence.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)