China’s Taiwan Affairs Office today listed Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) and Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) as “Taiwan independence diehards,” banning them and their families from entering China and its territories.
The sanctions also ban businesses associated with the “separatists” from operating in China, applicable for life.
Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) told a news conference that Liu and Cheng have committed numerous pro-Taiwan independence acts, angering people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Many people have reported them to the office and called for them to be punished, Chen said.
Chen accused Liu of promoting “fallacious Taiwan independence separatist views,” suppressing people who support cross-strait exchanges, persecuting Chinese spouses living in Taiwan and obstructing cross-strait travel and communication.
Cheng has been advocating for Taiwanese independence, compiling pro-independence teaching materials, “poisoning the minds” of young people and hindering cross-strait educational exchanges, Chen said.
Chen welcomed people to provide more evidence of Liu and Cheng’s crimes.
The office also listed Chen Shu-yi (陳舒怡) of the High Prosecutors’ Office as an accomplice in separatist activities.
Chen Shu-yi coordinates many of Taiwan’s major national security cases, acting as a liaison among prosecutors, national security agencies, military, police and the coast guard, the High Prosecutors’ Office Web site says.
National Cheng Kung University political science professor Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富) said that China views the Ministry of Education as pursuing “de-Sinicization.”
This highly targeted round of punishment, aimed at leaders of education and internal affairs, shows China is trying harder to assert its claimed jurisdiction over Taiwan, Hung said.
Targeting a high prosecutor is intended to intimidate the judicial community, undermine judicial independence and represents a blatant use of political pressure to influence Taiwan’s judicial system, he said.
By targeting “pro-independence” officials across the education, interior and judicial sectors, China is framing the Democratic Progressive Party government as persecuting Chinese spouses and its judiciary as suppressing dissent, the professor said.
China is signaling its claim over Taiwan to the international community and warning that any officials who do not meet China’s expectations would be punished, he added.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
RSS