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Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

Will Beijing sharpen its laws to punish ‘Taiwan separatists’?

  • Beijing started drafting a blacklist last year, saying it is aimed at a small number of secession diehards and their financial supporters
  • The national security legislation in Hong Kong ‘inspired’ mainland academics considering an enforcement mechanism related to Taiwan, says expert

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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech during Double Tenth celebrations on October 10. With tensions between Taipei and Beijing high, observers suggest the mainland is looking at using legislation to punish “Taiwan separatists”. Photo: AP Photo
Amber Wangin Beijing
Cross-strait tensions could spur efforts in Beijing to use legislation to target independence-seeking politicians in Taiwan, according to mainland observers.
While there is no timetable for the legislation, Beijing said last year that it was drawing up a blacklist of “ diehard Taiwanese separatists” and their financial supporters.

The list was seen as a warning to Taipei not to get too close to Washington, and came after former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said Taiwan “has not been a part of China”.

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Tensions over the island have continued to rise in the year since, particularly in recent weeks, with the People’s Liberation Army sending more than 150 military aircraft to the island’s air defence identification zone.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has also warned that secessionists on the self-ruled island – which he called “the biggest obstacle” for Beijing to realise reunification – would be “judged by history”.

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But Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has insisted that Taiwan will not be subordinate to the mainland.

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