China has sanctioned a lawmaker and rights activist, a civil defense group and a retired chip magnate from democratic Taiwan, adding their names to a list of 'pro-independence diehards' who are banned from traveling to the country.
Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office said it will punish and sanction Legislative Yuan member and rights activist Puma Shen, retired chip billionaire Robert Tsao and their civil defense organization the Kuma Academy for "inciting separatism," a term used by the Chinese Communist Party to describe views that aren’t in keeping with its territorial claims.
"The punishment of Puma Shen, Robert Tsao and the Kuma Academy in accordance with the law is a just act of punishing those who support independence," Office spokesperson Chen Binhua told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, as China wrapped up its latest military exercises around the island.
"It is a powerful punishment and resolute blow to Taiwanese pro-independence forces and their provocations," Chen said. "Our determination to smash all Taiwanese pro-independence secessionist plots is unswerving ... those who stubbornly continue such provocations will pay a heavy price."
The Taiwan government's Mainland Affairs Council said the island is already governed by the 1911 Republic of China as "a sovereign and independent country."
"The Beijing authorities have no right to impose any punishment on our people," the Council said in a statement on Wednesday. "The people of Taiwan enjoy living under a free and democratic political system."
"This will do nothing to aid healthy communication," it said.
Chen had earlier accused the Kuma Academy, which was founded by Shen and financially supported by Tsao, of "brazenly cultivating violent pro-independence elements in Taiwan and ... openly engaging in separatist activities in the guise of lectures, trainings and outdoor drills," with the support of the island's government and "interference from external forces."
The measures come days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te vowed to resist China's claims on the democratic island, which has never been ruled by Beijing nor formed part of the People's Republic of China.
In an Oct. 10 National Day speech marking the 113th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China by the nationalist Kuomintang under Sun Yat-sen, Lai said his government, which fled to the island after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists on the Chinese mainland in 1949, would continue to defend Taiwan's diverse and democratic way of life.
Civil defense
The US$33 million Kuma Academy program aims to train up 3 million civilians in civil defense, including 300,000 snipers, to fight alongside regular and reserve forces in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Other civil defense organizations have sprung up in recent years across Taiwan, in preparation for war or other disaster scenarios.
Chen warned Lai on Wednesday that China would continue to step up sanctions targeting the island "until the total unification of China is achieved."
"This is one of China's many acts of intimidation against Taiwan, including economic coercion and military threats," a spokesperson for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party said in a statement to Reuters. "These irrational acts will only further hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people and damage cross-strait relations."
Under the sanctions, Tsao and Shen are now barred from traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau, while any affiliated enterprises and businesses linked to the pair will be barred from "seeking profit" in China.
Shen told reporters in Taiwan that the move was an attempt to "intimidate" the island's 23 million people.
"China is particularly wary of Taiwan's civil defense campaigns and the development of civil defense awareness, and is also very concerned about any courses or investments in that area," he said.
By contrast, Beijing appears to have wiped the slate clean for Taiwanese actor Wu Kang-ren, who recently reposted an Oct. 1 article from the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, congratulating the People's Republic of China on its 75th anniversary.
Asked about Wu's background as a student leader during the 2014 Sunflower Movement against closer ties with China, Chen said Beijing would welcome anyone who considers themselves Chinese, and agrees with China's claim on Taiwan, "as long as they can draw a clear line between themselves and pro-independence views."
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.