The authorities of Taiwan They reported this Saturday that they detected the presence of 23 fighters and five ships of the Armed Forces of China in the vicinity of the island within the framework of the escalation of tensions between both parties.
He Taiwanese Ministry of Defense indicated that around 6:00 a.m. (local time) the presence of five ships and 23 planes was recorded around Taiwan and highlighted that 20 of them crossed the middle line of the strait and they entered from the north, the center, the east and the southwest, into the air defense identification zone of the island.
As explained by the authorities through the social network Armed forces of the country monitored the situation and responded “accordingly.”
Taiwan recommended its citizens not to travel to China – including Hong Kong and Macau – unless strictly necessary, following the approval of new legislation that contemplates the death penalty as a form of punishment for the island’s separatists. In this way, Taipei raised the warning to “orange level” and asked its people to remain alert in the face of this “serious threat to personal safety.”
The spokesman for the Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council, Liang Wen-chiehmentioned that “if it is necessary to travel to these places, it is recommended to avoid discussing sensitive topics and issues, taking photographs of ports, airports or military places and carrying books on 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 Laiand his speeches in a pro-independence tone. Since then, Beijing has 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 your Penal Codespecifically in article six, which threatens execution of Taiwanese “separatists” who visit the country.
Said paragraph mentions that those who commit the crime of “dividing the State” They may be sentenced to capital punishment if the crime causes “particularly serious harm” 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 situation around Taiwan worsened last year, after the visit of the now former president of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosiwhich was reciprocated with a visit to Washington by a Taiwanese delegation.
From Beijing, the Chinese authorities have reiterated on numerous occasions that Taiwan’s independence will not be tolerated and that they will not rule out the use of force to prevent secession.
Ties between China and Taiwan, which it considers another province under its sovereignty, were severed in 1949 after Nationalist Party forces Kuomintang suffered a defeat in the civil war against the Communist Party and they will move to the archipelago.
Relations were re-established only at a business and informal level in the late 1980s.
(With information from Europa Press, AFP and EFE)
