Taiwan This Thursday he recommended to his citizens that don’t travel to china -included Hong Kong and Macau– unless strictly necessary, following the approval of the new legislation providing for the death penalty as a form of punishment for the separatists from the island. In this way, Taipei raised the warning to “orange level” and asked its people to remain alert to this “serious threat to personal safety”.
In any case, the spokesperson for the Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council, Liang Wen-chieh, mentioned that “if it is necessary to travel to these places, it is recommended to avoid discussing sensitive topics and issues, take photographs of ports, airports or military sites and carry books about politics, history or religion” to avoid any type of misunderstanding.
China’s claims to control the island have been going on for decades and have recently become more intense following the inauguration of a new president, William Lai, and his speeches in an independence tone. Beijing has since ordered military maneuvers in the vicinity of what it considers a “rebel province”, while the Taipei Executive strengthened its ties with the West to strengthen its defensive capabilities in the event of an attack.
However, in addition to these intimidation maneuvers, Xi Jinping’s regime announced last week a change in its Penal Codespecifically in article six, which threatens execution of Taiwanese “separatists” to visit the country.
This paragraph mentions that those who commit the crime of “dividing the State” They can be sentenced to capital punishment, if the crime causes “particularly serious damage” to the State and the people, or if the circumstances are “particularly serious”, although it does not provide details of what would be considered as such. The possibility of hold trials in absentia for the defendants and adds that if they “voluntarily abandon” their position, “end their separatist activities” and “take measures to mitigate or undo the damage and prevent the spread of the damage,” then their cases could be dismissed.
The measure was harshly criticized by Lai, who explained that “According to China, not supporting unification is equivalent to being pro-independence” and “it doesn’t matter if you are a supporter of Taiwan, the Republic of China or the Republic of China in Taiwan… they are all considered independentists by China,” he said after he himself had been branded a “troublemaker” and “secessionist.” ”.
In that sense, he denounced that the Asian giant “does not have any right to punish the people of Taiwan just because they defend themselves, nor for their convictions, nor does it have the right to persecute Taiwanese citizens beyond its borders.” “I want to emphasize that democracy is not the source of crime, autocracy is the crime,” he insisted, although he did not close the door on resuming dialogue with the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
At par, USAone of his great allies in the fight against Xi’s expansionist aspirations, extended its condemnation of the reform and “strongly rejected the escalatory and destabilizing language and actions of officials.” “We continue to call for restraint and for the country not to be unilaterally modified.” status quo”commented State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
(With information from AFP, EFE and Europa Press)
