TAIPEI: Taiwan’s government raised its travel warning for China on Thursday ( Jun 27 ), telling its citizens not to go unless absolutely necessary, following a threat from Beijing last week to execute those deemed “diehard” Taiwan independence supporters.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council director Liang Wen-chieh stated to reporters that the increased travel notice even applied to Hong Kong and Macau, which are both run by Chinese people.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory under democratic control, has made no secret of its opposition to Lai Ching-te, who it views as a” separatist,” and held two days of war games after he took office last month.
China threatened to kill Taiwan independence separatists in extreme cases next year, announcing new constitutional guidelines, a further escalating of tensions that drew criticism from Lai and his state, as well as the United States.
According to Liang, who made the announcement at a regular press conference in Taipei, those rules, in addition to other actions China has been taking to improve its regional security legislation, pose a serious threat to the safety of Chinese visiting China.
” If it is not necessary to go, then do n’t”, he said, adding this did not amount to a ban on visiting and was about protecting Taiwan’s people and reminding them of the risk rather than being a” countermeasure”.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment right away.
When asked about concerns that the guidelines might frighten Taiwan’s citizens and might not help to boost relations, the office claimed that they were only intended to appeal to a select few “diehards ‘ evil words and actions” and were only intended to” a very small number of” independent “diehards ‘ evil words and actions.”