Taiwanese who have recently traveled to China for tourism, to visit friends or relatives or for business reasons have been interrogated, detained and faced other forms of unreasonable treatment from Chinese officials, a source said on Sunday.
Among them was a Taiwanese who was detained for eight hours at an airport in China due to their research, which is related to religion, while others have had their travel documents for China canceled for a number of reasons, the source said.
In July, China expanded the scope of its counterespionage law, and recently announced a draft amendment to the law on the protection of state secrets.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing says that the law aims to further protect China’s state secrets, and counter the intelligence work of “hostile Western forces.”
State secrets were previously dispersed among units in China and managed independently, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to amend the law to manage sensitive information centrally, the source said, adding that Beijing sees the centralization of information and resources as a way to prevent the party from weakening.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) rule, China has given top priority to national security, the source said.
“Chinese who attended Halloween activities this year and wore costumes were later visited at home by national security officials who wanted to know who organized the events,” the source said.
Chinese customs officials have also increasingly been interrogating people arriving from the US, Japan and other countries, they said.
“Taiwanese academics who were invited to China to participate in exchange activities were recently detained at the airport for questioning, and their laptops and mobile phones were all searched,” the source said.
“The CCP is particularly afraid of organized religions... If you bring a Bible or religious publications into China, you might face criminal prosecution,” they said.
Over the past year, China has increasingly interrogated foreigners entering the country, and many foreign experts and academics have been arrested arbitrarily, they said.
In related news, Taiwanese officials have been unable to secure information about Taiwanese National Party vice chairman Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵), who was arrested on charges of “endangering national security” and “secession” in Wenzhou, China, in August last year.
Since his arrest, Beijing has refused to grant Yang’s family or Taiwanese officials access to him, the source said.
The Mainland Affairs Council called for Yang’s release in April after the Chinese Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced that it would indict him.
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS