Following China’s Taiwan Affairs Office adding a button on its Web site for people to report so-called “die-hard Taiwanese independence supporters” early this month, a report saying that it had “uncovered more than a thousand cases of Taiwanese espionage,” was released on Tuesday last week by the Chinese Ministry of State Security
The report, which is titled “Resolutely Fight against Taiwan-related Separatism and Espionage,” did not provide any details other than to say that “Taiwanese independence leaders, such as Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵), have been arrested.” Their arrests were also portrayed as “a severe blow” to “Taiwanese independence forces.”
The Mainland Affairs Council has criticized China’s 22 judicial “guidelines” to penalize “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” released in June, as cognitive warfare to intimidate Taiwanese. Beijing’s latest claims about detaining more than 1,000 spies are likely an exaggeration, simply boasting or a further demonstration that Chinese authorities are abusing their power and detaining people without trial to meet quotas set by the Chinese authorities, the council said.
The Chinese ministry said it was “resolute in carrying out the holy mandate prescribed by the central party to defend against and crush efforts of espionage and infiltration against the Chinese homeland.”
However, Yang, who is one of the founders of the Taiwanese National Party, has fluid political views and in recent years has changed his political stance to cooperation with pro-China parties and cross-strait unification forces.
Yang was arrested in China in August 2022, which he regularly visited for business and to participate in Go competitions. For Taiwanese, someone like Yang is just a civilian and could hardly be labeled a leading advocate of independence.
A report by CNN journalists in China showed that posters with slogans promoting national security are now a common sight in Chinese cities. The ministry has a massive following on social media, and regularly posts commentaries, videos or comic strips sounding the alarm about supposed ubiquitous threats to the nation.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the nation’s most authoritarian leader in decades, China’s security agents are spreading a stern message to Chinese that foreign spies are everywhere, and an ever-widening array of issues are seen as potential threats to the nation’s security. Beijing is attempting to mentally prepare Chinese not to be shaped by so-called foreign threats.
The emphasis on external threats is widely seen by experts as being part of Xi’s ramping up of national security in the face of escalating geopolitical tensions and mounting domestic challenges, such as a weakening economy.
Beijing can also deflect domestic criticisms by shifting the blame from itself to “foreign forces,” a playbook the Chinese government has repeatedly returned to during periods of discontent.
The Hong Kong Security Bureau, which has set up a hotline for people to report national security-related information, said it has received more than 750,000 reports in the almost four years since the National Security Law was imposed on the territory.
Amid intensifying threats from Beijing, the number of Taiwanese working in China fell precipitously from 430,000 in 2009 to less than 177,000 in 2022. Taiwanese investments in China last year hit a record low.
The ministry’s report is nothing more than another attempt by Beijing to intimidate Taiwanese against supporting independence. However, this move not only reflects Beijing’s insecurity, but would lead to more dissatisfaction and antipathy among Taiwanese toward China, which could contribute to further separation, opposition and hostility across the Taiwan Strait.
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