Could Taiwan's 'separatists' face death penalty in China? – DW – 07/09/2024
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Beijing has unveiled new guidelines against what it says is "a very small number" of "diehard" advocates for Taiwanese independence — but others say these laws could apply to nearly everyone in Taiwan.

Chinese authorities have recently announced legal changes that could impose harsh sanctions, including the death penalty, on individuals working “at separating Taiwan from China.” Beijing sees the self-ruled island as part of its own territory and has hinted at the possibility of using violence to subdue any attempts at pursuing indepedence.

Former Taiwanese legislator Chen Jiau-hua, already blacklisted by Beijing as one of the “stubborn separatists,” told DW she was not intimidated by the new measures. Instead, the set of guidelines revealed last month simply made her grow “even more resentful” towards China.

“I think Taiwanese people shouldn’t be afraid and threatened by these guidelines. Nor should they surrender to an authoritarian regime,” Chen said.

Some of the legal changes, however, are not easily dismissed. Beijing courts can now pass sentences, including life imprisonment or the death penalty, to “Taiwan independence” supporters who are convicted of conducting or inciting secession.

China says its new guidelines are targeting a “very small number of diehard ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists.”

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Chinese authorities have recently announced legal changes that could impose harsh sanctions, including the death penalty, on individuals working “at separating Taiwan from China.”

    Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has publicly disliked and called “a dangerous separatist,” reacted by saying that “China has no right to pursue cross-border prosecution of Taiwanese people.”

    Wu told DW that, given the broad definition of the crimes, around 90% of Taiwan’s population could potentially be criminalized — a figure Lai also reportedly shared with his party’s central committee during a meeting.

    Wu warned that retired members of the Taiwanese military, its government personnel, employees of sensitive high-tech companies as well as educators are all among the high-risk groups, based on new laws and previous cases.

    In response to the travel alert, Beijing accused Taiwan’s Lai administration of “maliciously smearing judicial documents” and issued a statement reassuring that most Taiwanese had no reason for concern and could visit China “in high spirits.”

    Wu Se-chih believes that the latest move is a clear attempt to “make Taiwanese people feel a certain degree of self-restraint in their speech and political expressions,” hoping to replicate the suppression methods used in Hong Kong.

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