Taiwan Warns Citizens Not to Travel to China
Taiwan raised its travel alert for China and the Chinese-run territories of Hong Kong and Macao on Thursday, warning its citizens not to go unless necessary....
Facts
- Taiwan raised its travel alert for China and the Chinese-run territories of Hong Kong and Macao on Thursday, warning its citizens not to go unless necessary.1
- This comes as Chinese authorities announced last week a set of judicial guidelines to allow Taiwan independence supporters to be tried in absentia in certain cases, including for crimes punishable by death.2
- Though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan, Taipei cautioned that these guidelines make travel to China — as well as to third countries that have extradition agreements with China — riskier for Taiwanese citizens.3
- Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese people travel to China for business, family visits, and tourism every year or even live there, including officials of the pro-unification Nationalist Party.4
- 'Beijing later said that the threat of execution only applies to a few ''diehard'' activists supportingthe independence of the island that China has long claimed as its own.'5
- The People's Republic of China has a record of detaining people linked to Taiwan, including on charges of subverting the government and crimes against national security.6
Sources: 1NBC, 2CGTN, 3Financial Times, 4ABC News, 5FOX News and 6New York Times.
Narratives
- Anti-China narrative, as provided by Taipei Times. For the time being, Taiwanese nationals must avoid traveling — even for a transfer flight — to China and its semi-autonomous territories or taking a Chinese airline due to the risk of illegal arrests as Beijing moves to weaponize its judicial system against Taiwan. The international community must step in to stop the PRC from breaching international law.
- Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. Taiwanese authorities have broadened the interpretation of new Chinese guidelines on imposing criminal punishments on separatists to deliberately mislead the public into believing that Beijing is now targeting everyone living on the island. That's utterly false, as the guidelines clearly focus on diehard secessionists.
