The Taiwanese government has raised its travel alert, urging its citizens to avoid traveling to China unless necessary.
According to Reuters, Liang Wen-chieh, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, responsible for relations with mainland China, announced on the 27th that the upgraded travel alert applies to Hong Kong and Macao, under China administration. Taiwan’s travel warnings are categorized into four levels, and the alert issued for China is currently at the second-highest level, marked as an orange warning, following the most severe red alert, which imposes a travel ban. Taiwan’s decision follows China’s recent announcement of criminal penalties, including the potential imposition of the death penalty for individuals advocating Taiwanese independence.
It was reported that Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te also emphasized during a central executive meeting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that “over 90% of Taiwanese could be affected” by China’s recent guidelines and stressed “the need for unity among all parties to confront them.”
Chinese authorities previously announced guidelines on the 21st stating that “Chinese courts, prosecutors, and security agencies must severely punish stubborn Taiwan independence activists who instigate the separation and independence of the country according to the law, and resolutely defend national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity.”
China, which regards Taiwan as a special administrative region similar to Hong Kong and Macao, enacted an Anti-secession Law in March 2005 in response to concerns that then-Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian might lead an independence movement from China. This recent guideline enactment is seen as a supplement to that law.
It is interpreted as an attack targeting the Tsai administration, which leans towards the US and against China. Accordingly, concerns are rising that Chinese authorities may arbitrarily arrest and criminally punish Taiwanese who do not accept the 1992 Consensus, an agreement between China and Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) acknowledging the One-China principle while allowing for different interpretations, which DPP does not recognize.
Diplomatic sources have assessed that tensions between the two sides are escalating as Chinese authorities, who have been intensifying political, economic, military, and security pressure on the Tsai administration, have now enacted guidelines that could lead to the death penalty for Taiwanese independence activists have further exacerbated the situation.
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