More than a year after imposing the draconian national security law on Hong Kong, China is working to make people criminally liable for life who support the independence of Taiwan, according to news agencies.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said in a statement on Friday that people named in a list of supporters of Taiwan’s independence will face sanctions, reported Reuters.
Taiwan’s Premier Su Tseng-chang, parliament Speaker You Si-kun and foreign minister Joseph Wu have been named in the list drawn up by China for being “stubbornly pro-Taiwan independence.” For the first time, China has spelt out punishment for people deemed to be in favour of Taiwan’s independence, and thus, are against its ‘One-China’ policy under which it considers the self-ruled island as its territory.
China has been pushing to implement the Hong Kong system in the self-governing island which considers itself as sovereign. While Hong Kong, a former British Colony, had returned to Chinese rule on condition of higher autonomy, Beijing has severely curtailed it through various laws, the latest being the national security law.
Zhu said that China will now prohibit the “pro-Taiwan independence” people from entering the mainland and China’s Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, reported Reuters. They will also be barred from cooperating with people or entities from the mainland, the spokesperson added.
China wants to send a message, Zhu said, to the supporters of Taiwan independence that “[t]hose who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland and split the country, will never end up well and will be spurned by the people and judged by history.”
