Mon, Oct 10, 2022 page3

• China might target border reopening

  DOUBLE STANDARD: Beijing expects Taipei to allow its citizens to enter the nation without quarantine while it still subjects Taiwanese to the ordeal, an official said

  • By Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Beijing is likely to cite Taiwan’s different border policies for people from China, Hong Kong and Macau as a “double standard” as part of its cognitive warfare efforts, a source said yesterday.

  The government is on Thursday to end mandatory quarantine for incoming travelers, expect those from Hong Kong, Macau and China, due to national security concerns.

  Beijing is likely to cite the discrepancy as a double standard and say that the Democratic Progressive Party administration “irrationally opposes” anything China-related and “as a matter of course,” the source said.

  

  Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang, front second right, inspects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Sept. 27.

  Photo: CNA

  The government last month announced that starting on Sept. 29, people from China and the two territories who wished to visit Taiwan could apply on the grounds of humanitarian, family or business needs, and that their applications would be considered in light of regulations.

  The policy would be subject to rolling reviews according to COVID-19 pandemic conditions, the state of cross-strait ties and other factors, officials said at the time.

  However, on Sept. 28, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office questioned the policy and called for the “small three links” — commercial, transportation and postal exchanges between Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, and China’s coastal cities — to be restarted.

  The source said that the government has considered rising cross-strait tensions caused by Chinese military drills near Taiwan, Beijing’s imposition of sanctions on several high-level Taiwanese officials it labeled “die-hard separatists,” and its ban on Taiwanese fisheries and agricultural products in drafting the policy.

  “China is pressuring international organizations to exclude Taiwan and its officials are publicly threatening to ‘re-educate’ Taiwanese if Taiwan is forcibly united with China,” the source said.

  “The state of the relationship with China right now is very different from that with the US and other countries. So, Beijing should not expect that the same policies that apply to those countries will also be applied to China,” the source said.

  The government also considered China’s different handling of the pandemic, which is based on a policy of seeking to bring COVID-19 cases in the country down to zero, while “the rest of the world is already living with the virus.”

  “Taiwanese traveling to China still have to quarantine for one week. Yet China expects that its citizens should be able to visit Taiwan without having to undergo quarantine,” the source said.

  National security officials believe Beijing has used Taiwan’s favorable policies toward the two territories as a launching platform for “united front” efforts in the past, the source said, adding that the government would continue to prioritize national security when drafting policies for people from China and the territories.
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