About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said.
In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks.
Photo: CNA
Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had their movement restricted in some form, the MAC said on social media on Wednesday.
The figures include previously known incarcerations of I-Kuan Tao members, Taiwanese businesspeople and others involved in alleged scamming operations, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
In one case, a Taiwanese on a five-day trip was told their identification was “problematic” when checking in at an airport, the source said.
Authorities refused to explain, took the traveler to a side room and demanded that they unlock their phone for questioning, they said.
The person allegedly overheard one officer whisper, “We have the wrong person,” before being released after more than an hour, they added.
In another case, a Taiwanese couple traveling in China’s Shanxi Province said the wife was shouted at in their hotel lobby and nearly taken away, the source said.
The couple only learned after returning to Taiwan earlier than planned that the unknown person was part of a security task force of local officials who were meeting at the hotel that day, they said.
One of the people cited told the Central News Agency that the cases highlight the absence of the rule of law in China, where everything is centered around national security without regard for human rights.
The council said that Beijing’s promotion of cross-strait religious dialogue is merely superficial, as any activity failing to serve its “united front” agenda would be curtailed or suppressed.
The council had raised the travel alert to China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange,” the third-highest level used for countries and areas where unnecessary travel is advised against, after China issued the 22-point set of “guidelines” to penalize “diehard” Taiwanese independence separatists.
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