MAC slams 'ambiguous' language in Chinese law threatening Taiwanese

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Wednesday denounced as "a lie" a claim made earlier in the day by China's Taiwan Affairs Office that China only aims to punish "a very small minority of Taiwan independence diehards."

"From the viewpoint of the Beijing authorities, not endorsing 'unification' is 'Taiwan independence,'" the MAC said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) definitions in its regulations were "ambiguous" and "any Taiwanese person could be defined as breaking their law," the statement said.

The MAC, a Taiwan government agency that handles cross-strait affairs, referred to the fact that China has set up an official website that encourages Chinese citizens to report "'Taiwan independence' diehards" so that they can be "punished according to the law."

"We call upon China to stop repeatedly intimidating and threatening the people of Taiwan, which harms the development of friendly cross-strait interactions," said the MAC.

The MAC's statement came in response to remarks made by China's Taiwan Affairs Office Spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華) at a routine press conference in Beijing earlier in the day.

"The Taiwan independence diehards with their vile, secessionist words and deeds and rampant independence-seeking activities, and their crimes of secession and inciting secession, do not target or involve the majority of Taiwan compatriots," the Chinese spokesperson said.

The People's Republic of China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and seeks to annex the country, despite having never controlled it.

In June, China introduced new guidelines that threaten the death penalty for "Taiwan independence diehards."

"The Beijing authorities have no jurisdiction over Taiwan," said the MAC in response, adding that China's "so-called laws and regulations have no binding force on our people."