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.”
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
RSS