The Chinese government recently threatened to issue an Interpol arrest warrant for Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) in a new wave of cognitive and psychological tactics to extend its transnational repression and in violation of international norms.
Along with a dozen Taiwanese officials, politicians and organizations, China last year named Shen a “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatist.” It also imposed sanctions barring Shen and his family from entering China, Macau and Hong Kong, and doing business in China or with Chinese firms.
The Chongqing security bureau last month launched a criminal probe into Shen on allegations of “secession-related” activities, such as his founding of the civil defense organization the Kuma Academy. The state-run Chinese Central Television last week aired a documentary threatening to issue a “global arrest” through Interpol’s cross-border judicial cooperation.
Compared with some renowned advocates dedicated to Taiwanese independence, Shen is not a major activist. It could be reasonably inferred that China is targeting Shen because his efforts to promote Taiwan’s defense capabilities and social mobilization have critically struck a nerve on China’s ambition to invade Taiwan. Shen’s legislative proposals to bolster Taiwan’s national security against China’s infiltration could also have irritated Beijing.
As China has no jurisdiction over Taiwan, all of its high-profile aggressive actions are meant to create a false illusion of its long-arm jurisdiction over Taiwan, aiming to sow division and instill fear among Taiwanese.
This transnational repression is not just about Shen personally, but an act of collective coercion against all Taiwanese. China’s moves also demonstrate its violation of democratic freedom and human rights, as well as its distortion and contempt for international norms.
Interpol’s core mission is to combat international criminal offenses such as terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering, and its operations are strictly bound by the principle of political neutrality. Article 3 of its charter explicitly prohibits the organization from engaging in activities of a political, military, religious or racial nature. This clause is the cornerstone of Interpol’s professionalism and credibility.
Although China has extradition treaties with more than 60 countries, most of them — especially democratic countries — would not extradite political prisoners or prisoners of conscience based on Beijing’s unilateral accusations.
On the other hand, China’s global targeting of people and groups perceived as threats to Beijing has already drawn international condemnation, and led to a number of anti-China countermeasures.
According to Freedom House, 1,219 incidents of transnational repression were reported from 2014 to last year, with China ranking as the top perpetrator.
G7 leaders in June issued a joint statement strongly condemning transnational repression, and called for cooperation to curb intimidation by authoritarian regimes worldwide.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which brings together parliamentary members of 43 countries, recently issued the Brussels Declaration condemning China’s transnational repression, and pledged to take concrete action to stop cross-border repression, such as urging all members’ respective governments to reaffirm their commitment to human rights.
All Taiwanese should unite to resist Chinese coercion and be alert to cross-strait interactions. Any appeasement and concessions, such as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) reluctance to condemn Beijing, only embolden the aggressor.
Shen’s case should be a lesson and an opportunity to augment Taiwan’s alliance with like-minded countries to collectively confront cross-border intimidation.
Jan. 1 marks a decade since China repealed its one-child policy. Just 10 days before, Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), who long oversaw the often-brutal enforcement of China’s family-planning rules, died at the age of 96, having never been held accountable for her actions. Obituaries praised Peng for being “reform-minded,” even though, in practice, she only perpetuated an utterly inhumane policy, whose consequences have barely begun to materialize. It was Vice Premier Chen Muhua (陳慕華) who first proposed the one-child policy in 1979, with the endorsement of China’s then-top leaders, Chen Yun (陳雲) and Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), as a means of avoiding the
In the US’ National Security Strategy (NSS) report released last month, US President Donald Trump offered his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. The “Trump Corollary,” presented on page 15, is a distinctly aggressive rebranding of the more than 200-year-old foreign policy position. Beyond reasserting the sovereignty of the western hemisphere against foreign intervention, the document centers on energy and strategic assets, and attempts to redraw the map of the geopolitical landscape more broadly. It is clear that Trump no longer sees the western hemisphere as a peaceful backyard, but rather as the frontier of a new Cold War. In particular,
As the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) races toward its 2027 modernization goals, most analysts fixate on ship counts, missile ranges and artificial intelligence. Those metrics matter — but they obscure a deeper vulnerability. The true future of the PLA, and by extension Taiwan’s security, might hinge less on hardware than on whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can preserve ideological loyalty inside its own armed forces. Iran’s 1979 revolution demonstrated how even a technologically advanced military can collapse when the social environment surrounding it shifts. That lesson has renewed relevance as fresh unrest shakes Iran today — and it should
The last foreign delegation Nicolas Maduro met before he went to bed Friday night (January 2) was led by China’s top Latin America diplomat. “I had a pleasant meeting with Qiu Xiaoqi (邱小琪), Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping (習近平),” Venezuela’s soon-to-be ex-president tweeted on Telegram, “and we reaffirmed our commitment to the strategic relationship that is progressing and strengthening in various areas for building a multipolar world of development and peace.” Judging by how minutely the Central Intelligence Agency was monitoring Maduro’s every move on Friday, President Trump himself was certainly aware of Maduro’s felicitations to his Chinese guest. Just
RSS