Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) yesterday criticized China’s decision to sanction his father’s export company, saying it was a retaliatory move in response to his promotion of legislation opposed by Beijing.
China’s Xinhua news agency earlier yesterday cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) as saying that companies linked to Taiwanese independence “separatists” would not be allowed “to profit from the mainland.”
Shen’s father serves as head of Sicuens International Co (兆億).
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The company is prohibited from performing transactions or cooperating with organizations, enterprises or people in China, Zhu was quoted as saying, adding that other measures would be taken if necessary.
Shen in a video posted online said that he was “honored” to be sanctioned by the office for the third time in one year, adding that the sanctions harm the interests of Chinese citizens.
China is punishing him and his family for his support of national security-related amendments and laws, including that lawmakers should be required to report visits to China and be punished for engaging in “united front” work, he said.
“For China, even breathing is considered Taiwanese independence,” he said, adding that punishing his family for his own political views was “collective punishment.”
In October last year, the office named Shen in a list of “Taiwanese independence activists,” banning him from traveling to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and restricting cooperation with his organizations, including the Kuma Academy.
Hong Kong-based newspapers Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao on Tuesday reported that Shen’s father had made hundreds of millions of yuan in Chinese business dealings, had an affair with a Chinese woman and made his money by reselling Chinese goods.
Ta Kung Pao also reported that the Kuma Academy made money by selling “war anxiety” to Taiwanese.
Shen said that the newspaper reports were slanderous and fabrications.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Chairman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said that the ban clearly targets Shen, and probably has something to do with nationwide campaigns to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.
“Beijing simply cannot stand it anymore,” Liang said.
“By not allowing Puma Shen’s father to buy products from Chinese suppliers, they are preventing Chinese suppliers from making money. I think the ruling is illogical and does not make any sense. What they really hurt is Chinese suppliers,” Liang said, adding that the government would not retaliate.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan and Lee Wen-Hsin
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