China took punitive measures against “Prospect Foundation” and “Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats” for advocating “Taiwan independence,” reported Bangkok Post.
The two Taiwanese groups have been barred from collaborating with mainland organisations or persons. According to the Bangkok Post, their chiefs have been barred from entering the mainland and the special administrative areas of Hong Kong and Macao.
Under the pretence of “democracy,” and “freedom” and under the pretext of “cooperation,” “academic exchanges” and “seminars,” the two groups have wantonly marketed the idea of “Taiwan independence” in the world arena, according to Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the office.
They have gone to great lengths to curry favour with anti-China forces, engaging in incidents that promoted “one China, one Taiwan,” “two Chinas,” and other violations of the one-China principle in an attempt to enlarge Taiwan’s so-called “international space” according to Zhu.
Meanwhile, China announced new sanctions against Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US, as well as punitive measures against two American institutes that hosted Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen during her tour of Central American allies – Guatemala and Belize – on Friday, according to Kyodo News.
Tsai met with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday, infuriating China, which considers the self-ruled democratic island to be its own.
Hsiao was described as a “diehard ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist” by a spokeswoman for the ruling Communist Party’s Taiwan Work Office, and she and her family were barred from entering the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao.
China imposed similar sanctions, including the entry ban on Hsiao, last August in retaliation to McCarthy’s predecessor Nancy Pelosi’s travel to Taiwan.
Before the meetings between Tsai and the third-highest-ranking American official, China, which considers Taiwan as a renegade province to be merged with the mainland, by force if necessary, had warned of retaliation.
According to Kyodo News, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry slammed Beijing’s decision, saying in a statement Friday that it is “the fundamental right for our head of state” to perform diplomatic duties and that “China has no right to intervene.”
According to the ministry, China “overreacted” by applying penalties. “Such deceitful behaviour not only deepens Taiwan peoples’ resentments but also exposes the irrational and absurd nature of the Communist regime,” it continued. According to the ministry, coercion and suppression will “only strengthen the Taiwan government’s belief in freedom and democracy.”
Since their separation in 1949 owing to a civil conflict, Communist-led China and Taiwan have been governed independently.
