MAC criticizes TAO's new 'Taiwan separatists' section on its website

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) The addition of a new section on "diehard Taiwan independence separatists" on the official website of China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) has created "more obstacles and harm in cross-strait interactions," the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday.

Establishing such a section on the TAO website hinders exchange and communication between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait with no benefits to promoting positive exchanges, said MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) at a press conference.

The new section, established on Wednesday without prior notice, lists 10 "diehard Taiwan independence separatists" previously announced by the TAO in 2021 and 2022, including Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄), and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).

Previous TAO statements and legal documents about Taiwan independence, such as a new set of guidelines targeting "diehard Taiwan independence separatists," are also included in the new online section, which features a mailbox for reporting "crimes" and providing evidence against those listed or new separatists.

The new set of guidelines, issued on June 21 with immediate effect, allow courts in China to try "diehard Taiwan independence separatists" in absentia, with those convicted of inciting secession who also cause "grave harm to the state and the (Chinese) people" potentially being sentenced to death, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Beijing's latest move has sparked criticism in Taiwan, drawing condemnation from the opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party, and prompting the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to issue a statement saying the move is tantamount to inciting mutual attacks between people on both sides of the strait.

On Thursday, TAO spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) also issued a press release, saying that the DPP authorities deliberately confused the majority of Taiwanese with a minority of "diehard Taiwan independence separatists" and attempted to "drag innocent people into supporting 'Taiwan independence.'"

In response to Zhu's remarks, Liang said that the new section could lead to consequences such as encouraging individuals to report others, citing examples where reports may not be due to support for Taiwan independence but rather industry competition, personal grudges, or disagreements over someone's statements.

"If such a trend of encouraging reports takes hold, it could lead to many people being inexplicably caught up in it," Liang added.

Although the Chinese authorities have repeatedly claimed that only a small number of people are targeted, that would not be the case if the trend takes hold, Liang noted.