China claims sovereignty over the island, which has been governed autonomously since the Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists withdrew there in 1949.
China said today that it will “punish” “staunch Taiwanese secessionists,” whom it will also veto entry into mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
“We will punish them in accordance with the law and prohibit them from entering or doing business here,” spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian of the Chinese Office for Taiwan Affairs said in a statement, according to the state agency Xinhua.
Zhu cited among those who Beijing sees as “staunch independentists” the Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang, the President of the Legislative Assembly, You Si-kun and the Foreign Ministry, Joseph Wu.
According to Zhu, these people “have vigorously incited the cross-strait confrontation and maliciously attacked the Chinese mainland.”
“Those who betray the motherland are destined for a bad end,” said Zhu, who also accused the “secessionists” of “conspiring with foreign forces to divide the country.”
The statements come after a visit to Taiwan by a group of MEPs, who said today that the European Parliament must “increase exchanges” with the island.
This trip has not sat well in China, which has warned that it could “damage relations” between Brussels and Beijing.
In addition, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen recently confirmed that the United States has a military presence on the island “to train Taiwanese troops,” something China described as a “provocation.”
China claims sovereignty over the island, which has been governed autonomously since the Kuomintang nationalists (KMT) retreated there in 1949 after losing the civil war against the communists and continued with the regime of the ROC, which culminated in the transition to democracy in the 90s.
Since then, the voices that demand to declare the independence of Taiwan as a sovereign state have gained strength.
According to Chinese President Xi Jinping recently, the islanders who espouse these ideas “are a grave danger” and “the greatest obstacle to reunification.”
For his part, Tsai has stated that “no one can force Taiwan to take the path that China chooses” for the island, and that “Beijing offers neither a free and democratic lifestyle for Taiwan nor sovereignty for its 23 million inhabitants. ”. (I)
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