Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council told the legislature on the 5th that China has carried out transnational repression against 131 Taiwanese since 2005, grouped into nine patterns. No direct response from Chinese authorities appeared in this reporting.
According to the Central News Agency and the United Daily News, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh told the Legislative Yuan's Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee on the 5th that from 2005 to date there have been 131 victims and 149 cases of transnational repression. The Liberty Times headline put the same figure as 149 person-times. The reports did not give a year-by-year breakdown or individual cases.
광고 문의 · 300×250The nine patterns are physical attacks, criminal liability, psychological pressure, digital pressure, border control, guilt by association, economic sanctions, interference in democracy and abuse of mechanisms. The MAC cited examples such as paint attacks and staged car accidents, bounty wanted notices, circulating satellite images of homes, barring relatives from entering or leaving, and freezing bank accounts. It said targets include politicians, defense personnel, judicial staff, scholars and civil society figures, and the scope keeps widening.
Taiwan's response
The Central News Agency reported that the Executive Yuan set up an inter-agency communication platform on transnational repression on April 1 this year. The MAC said its strategy is to raise the cost to perpetrators and reduce harm to victims through prevention, protection and counter-measures, including immediate case determination to stop suspects leaving the country and guidance for the public. Liang said the issue harms not only individuals' legal interests but is an extension of Beijing's political will beyond its borders.
Yahoo News Taiwan carried a headline saying the Ministry of Justice is considering amending the Anti-Infiltration Act to close gaps, but its details could not be confirmed here. The figures and categories are all compiled by Taiwanese government bodies and have not been independently verified.
Whether China responded directly to the announcement had not been confirmed at the time of writing. However, on Jan. 7 this year the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office named Interior Minister Liu Shih-fang and Education Minister Cheng Ying-yao as Taiwan independence diehards and said it would punish them according to law. The TAO alleged the two promoted independence and obstructed cross-strait exchanges, while the MAC protested strongly and said Beijing must bear responsibility.
The two sides thus characterize such cases in opposite ways: Taipei describes them as cross-border human rights violations, while Beijing describes punishing pro-independence forces under law. How the report will affect cross-strait ties and any legal amendments is not yet known.
