Beijing, China – Beijing has bannedtwo Taiwanese ministers from entering China for alleged separatist activities related to “Taiwan independence”, its Taiwan Affairs Office said on Wednesday.
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 democratically governed 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.
China has now listed 14 people as “secessionists”, the office’s spokesperson Chen Binhua told reporters at a weekly news briefing, in an announcement that comes a week after the Chinese military carried out its most extensive ever war games around the island.
The list already includes Taiwan Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, head of the island’s National Security Council Joseph Wu andDefence Minister Wellington Koo.
A third person, Chen Shu-Yi, a prosecutor from Taiwan’s High Prosecutors Office, was accused of being an accomplice in alleged separatist activities and will be held “accountable for life”.
The spokesperson called on the public to submit evidence and leads on the prosecutor’s activities based on which China would impose “severe punishment”, without specifying what those measures would be.
Chen said the purpose of the actions against a small number of “Taiwan independence die-hards” was to “fundamentally safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity”, and that the moves were not aimed at Taiwanese citizens in general.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taipei has complained about Beijing’s “long-arm jurisdiction” to pressure the Taiwanese people and said Chinese laws do not apply in Taiwan, which has its own judicial system.
(Reporting by Liz Lee and Beijing newsroom, and YImou Lee in Taipei; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
