BEIJING: Beijing banned two Taiwanese ministers from entering China for alleged separatist activities related to “Taiwan independence” on Wednesday (Jan 7), prompting an angry response from Taipei, which said it would not bow to “threats and intimidation”.
The office described Taiwanese Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang and Education Minister Cheng Ying-yao as “die-hard Taiwan independence secessionists” and banned them, as well as their relatives, from entry.
The ban also extends to Hong Kong and Macau.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island.
Taipei strongly objects to Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council issued a strong protest, saying the move gravely undermined cross-strait relations and would only provoke anger among the public.
It accused Beijing of seeking to create a “chilling effect beyond the named individuals, to coerce Taiwanese people into abandoning their determination to uphold the status quo and their democratic freedoms”.
China was also attempting to claim jurisdiction over Taiwan by treating such cases as “domestic criminal offences”, the council said in a statement, calling the efforts clumsy and ineffective.
“Threats and intimidation will never shake the resolve of the Taiwanese people to uphold democracy and freedom,” it said.
“All serious consequences arising from the Chinese Communist authorities’ actions that provoke instability in cross-strait relations must be borne entirely by the Chinese side.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-bans-two-taiwanese-ministers-independence-activities-5828076
