China’s addition of a new section on so-called “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists” on its Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Web site has created “more obstacles and harm in cross-strait interactions,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday.
Such a move hinders exchanges and communication between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and does not contribute to promoting positive exchanges, MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.
The new section, which was set up on Wednesday, lists 10 “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists” that the TAO announced in 2021 and 2022, including Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Previous TAO statements and legal documents about Taiwanese independence, such as a new set of guidelines announced on June 21 targeting “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” are also included in the new section, which features a mailbox for reporting “crimes” and providing evidence against people on the list and other independence advocates.
The guidelines allow courts in China to try “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists” in absentia, with those convicted of inciting “secession” who also cause “grave harm to the state and the [Chinese] people” potentially being sentenced to death, a report by Xinhua news agency said.
Beijing’s latest move has sparked criticism in Taiwan, drawing condemnation from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party, and prompting the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to issue a statement that the move was tantamount to inciting mutual attacks between people on both sides of the Strait.
On Thursday, TAO spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮), in a news release, accused DPP authorities of deliberately confusing the majority of Taiwanese with a minority of “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists” and attempting to “drag innocent people into supporting ‘Taiwan independence.’”
In response, Liang said the new section could lead to negative consequences such as encouraging people to report others, citing examples where people were reported not because they support Taiwanese independence, but because of industry competition, personal grudges or differences in opinions.
“If such a trend of encouraging reporting takes hold, it could lead to many people being inexplicably caught up in it,” he added.
Although Chinese authorities have repeatedly claimed that only a small number of people are targeted, that would not be the case if the trend takes hold, Liang said.
Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致), director of Taiwan Thinktank’s China Research Center, said that China’s aim was to make an example of the 10 people on its list to emphasize that it is targeting only “die-hard” independence activists for punishment and reduce concern among ordinary Taiwanese that they would also be affected.
Setting up the new section also demonstrates that action has been taken following the issuance of the new guidelines, he added.
By setting up a mailbox to report those separatists, the Chinese authorities are attempting to enumerate or create conditions that can be defined as supporting Taiwanese independence, he said.
Institute for National Policy Research director Wang Hung-jen (王宏仁) said that the measure is an extension of China’s legal battle with Taiwan, with the goal of instilling fear among Taiwanese to make them more amenable to accepting conditions proposed by Beijing.
China has adopted a more lenient approach toward the general population “to make ordinary Taiwanese feel positively about China while intimidating Taiwanese independence advocates,” he added.
Regarding the mailbox for reporting separatists, Wang said that it is part of China’s strategy to monitor its society, which it has expanded to apply to “die-hard Taiwanese independence advocates.”
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS