More Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong or Macau have been detained or faced trials since Beijing implemented the Anti-Espionage Law and Law on Guarding State Secrets, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday.
Since July last year, 15 Taiwanese have been detained or undergone trials after entering China and the two special administrative regions, while 51 have been interrogated by border officers, Tsai said, adding that the number of cases is increasing.
“We respect the Mainland Affairs Council’s decision to raise the travel alert for China from ‘yellow’ to ‘orange,’ meaning that people should avoid non-essential travel. Other countries have also raised the travel alert for China, which shows that it has become an issue that the international community is monitoring closely,” Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Taiwanese in certain professions are likely to be listed as national security risks, such as those who work at national security and intelligence agencies, have participated in activities organized by civic groups critical of China or work in the high-tech sector, he said.
Two Taiwanese travelers — followers of a certain religious practices — are still being detained in China for allegedly contravening Chinese criminal laws, he said.
The China Coast Guard has also increased the frequency of patrols in the Taiwan Strait, as well as at the East and South China seas, including sending coast guard ships to patrol waters near Japan and the South China Sea, Tsai said.
“We have noticed that Chinese coast guards and other agencies have operated more frequently in the ‘gray area’ between Taiwan and China than before,” he said. “As the government increases patrols of our territorial waters, we will fully defend and protect our fishers’ rights to work in international waters.”
Taiwanese fishers should also be on high alert when accessing sensitive waters and abide by maritime laws in other countries, Tsai said, adding that they should quickly notify the government if their boats and crewmembers are threatened with inspections or seizure by Chinese coast guards.
Chinese coast guards on Tuesday last week boarded and seized Taiwanese fishing boat Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88號) for allegedly contravening no-fishing season regulations. Its crewmembers have yet to be released.
Prior to the meeting, reporters asked Tsai about the Chinese research ship Jia Geng’s entry into the waters off Taiwan’s east coast on Sunday.
Tsai said the ship did not cast any undersea equipment when navigating near the east coast.
The ship was mainly there to gather hydrological data, he said, adding that the bureau would closely monitor the whereabouts of Chinese vessels navigating near Taiwan.
Meanwhile, government agencies should be ready to clarify disinformation on Chinese social media platforms Douyin (抖音) and Xiaohongshu (小紅書), given their large user base in Taiwan, Tsai said.
“The bureau’s position is to instantly gather disinformation and inform government agencies in charge of relevant issues to quickly provide clarification. The goal is to avoid publicly disseminating disinformation,” he said.
If the source of questionable content was found to be in Taiwan, the bureau would turn the case over to the Ministry of Justice, he said.
However, “should we track the source of the content to other countries, we would share the information with Taiwan-friendly nations,” he added.
As Douyin has more than 5 million active users, people should beware of cybersecurity issues as well, he said.
Tsai added that the Investigation Bureau and prosecutors were investigating whether a correspondent from China’s Xinhua news agency oversaw and directed the production of a Taiwanese political talk show while she was stationed in Taiwan.
It could be a major national security breach, compromising freedom of speech in Taiwan, Tsai said.
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