Calls to denounce “die hard” Taiwanese secessionists, a tipline to report them and punishments that include the death penalty for “ringleaders” – Beijing’s familiar rhetoric against Taiwan is turning dangerously real.
But the recent moves to criminalise support for it are unnerving Taiwanese who live and work in China, and those back home.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office was quick to assure the 23 million Taiwanese that this is not targeted at them, but at an “extremely small number of hard-line independence activists”.
Even before this new law China was already encouraging people to report on others,” the businesswoman said.
That was made official last week when Chinese authorities launched a website identifying Taiwanese public figures deemed “die hard” separatists.
She believes the guidance from the Supreme Court will almost certainly result in prosecutions of some Taiwanese living in China.
But Taiwanese in China have also been worried because the government doesn’t see them as “foreigners”, which makes them especially vulnerable to state repression.
Senior Taiwanese officials have told the BBC that 15 Taiwanese nationals are currently being held in China for various alleged crimes, “including violations of the anti-secession law”.
Beijing’s well-known rhetoric against Taiwan is becoming dangerously real. Calls to condemn “die hard” Taiwanese secessionists, a hotline to report them, and penalties that include the death penalty for “ringleaders”.
China’s claims are no longer surprising to the democratically run island. Even the ships and aircraft that test its defenses are now frequently provoked. However, the recent efforts to make support for it illegal are unsettling Taiwanese both back home and among their coworkers in China.
Soon after the Supreme Court made changes that allowed life in prison or even the death penalty for those found guilty of advocating for Taiwanese independence, a Taiwanese businesswoman based in China declared, “I am currently planning to speed up my departure.”.
That doesn’t seem like a big deal made out of a small issue. Legal scholar Prof. Chen Yu-Jie of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica states that the line is currently very hazy.
It didn’t take long for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to reassure the 23 million people living in Taiwan that this was directed towards a “very small number of hard-line independence activists,” not them. According to the office, “the vast majority of Taiwanese compatriots have nothing to fear.”.
However, cautious Taiwanese claim they are unwilling to verify that assertion. Speaking with a number of Taiwanese residents and employees in China, the BBC was informed that they were either preparing to leave or had already done so. Not many wanted to be named, and not many agreed to be interviewed for the record.
“You could be reported and your statements could be misconstrued at this point. Before China passed this new law, people were encouraged to report on others, according to the businesswoman.
That became official last week when a website listing Taiwanese public figures who are considered “die hard” separatists was launched by Chinese authorities. On the website, users could submit “clues and crimes” about the people who had been named or anybody else they suspected by emailing the provided address.
Scholars speculate that Beijing aims to imitate Hong Kong’s national security laws, which it claimed were essential for stability but have stifled the city’s pro-democracy movement by locking up former lawmakers, activists, and regular citizens who disagree with the government.
Beijing aims to “cut off the movement’s ties with the outside world and to divide society in Taiwan between those who support Taiwan independence and those who do not” by treating pro-Taiwanese sentiments as a national security concern, according to Prof. Chen.
Some Taiwanese living in China will most likely be prosecuted as a result of the Supreme Court’s guidance, in her opinion.
“This opinion has been forwarded to all national law enforcement authorities. We want to see more cases like this being prosecuted, so go find one, is what we’re trying to say to them. “.
“We have to exercise even greater caution,” a Macau-based Taiwanese man stated. Though his friends had “expressed concern” about his future in the Chinese city, he claimed he was always ready for threats due to the new legal guidance.
In comparison to before the pandemic, he continued, “patriotic education has become more common in Macau in recent years, and more assertive statements on Taiwan have created a more tense atmosphere.”.
Strong allies in the US, EU, and Japan, Taiwan rejects Beijing’s plans for “reunification,” but there is growing concern that China’s Xi Jinping has accelerated the Chinese Communist Party’s declared objective of annexing the island.
Taiwanese businesses, including the iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, the leading manufacturer of advanced chips TSMC, and the electronics juggernaut Acer, have been vital to China’s development for more than 30 years. Taiwanese who were looking for work and better opportunities across the strait were also drawn by the prosperity.
When I first moved to Shanghai, I adored the city. Compared to Taipei, it felt so much bigger, more vibrant, and more global, according to Zoe Chu*. She managed international performers for over ten years in Shanghai, where they were in great demand at bars and other venues throughout China.
China was experiencing economic growth in the mid-2000s, attracting tourists and investors from all over the world. The center of it all was Shanghai, which is larger, more glamorous, and more fashionable than any other Chinese city.
“My friends from Shanghai were contemptuous of Beijing. Ms. Chu remembers that they referred to it as the “big northern village.”. “You wanted to be in Shanghai.”. It was home to the trendiest nightclubs, eateries, and people. Though I quickly learned, I still felt like such a country bumpkin. “.
By 2009, when that decade came to an end, over 400,000 Taiwanese were residing in China. According to official figures from Taiwan, that number had drastically decreased to 177,000 by 2022.
Ms. Chu, who departed Shanghai in 2019, claims that “China had changed.”. She currently works in Taipei for a medical company, and she has no intention of going back.
She says, “I’m from Taiwan.”. “That place is no longer safe for us. “.
The same factors that have prompted large numbers of foreigners to flee China have also motivated the Taiwanese exodus: a faltering economy, growing tensions between Beijing and Washington, and most significantly, the abrupt and widespread lockdowns that followed the Covid pandemic.
However, Taiwanese living in China are also concerned because they are particularly susceptible to state repression because the government does not consider them to be “foreigners.”.
According to senior Taiwanese officials who spoke to the BBC, fifteen Taiwanese citizens are being detained in China on suspicion of a number of offenses, including “violations of the anti-secession law.”.
A Taiwanese businessman was jailed by China in 2019 for espionage after he was found to have taken pictures of police officers in Shenzen, despite his denials. It was only last year that he was set free. China announced in April 2023 that it had detained a publisher based in Taiwan on charges of “endangering national security.”. His detention has not ended.
Former resident and employee Amy Hsu* claims that because of her work, she is now afraid to travel to China at all. She started volunteering at an organization that assisted refugees from Hong Kong in relocating to Taiwan after she got back to Taiwan.
She declares, “It is definitely riskier for me now.”. “They started fining people for jaywalking in 2018 by using security cameras; the system could recognize your face and send the fine to your address. “.
She expressed discomfort at the level of surveillance and fears that even visitors could be targeted, particularly those who are on a list of possible criminals.
“Yes, I’m on the list without a doubt. Robert Tsao, a 77-year-old tech billionaire who started United Micro-electronics Corporation (UMC), one of Taiwan’s biggest chip manufacturers, laughs, “I am a hardline pro-independence [guy] with lots of ideas.”.
Originally from Beijing, Mr. Tsao now advocates for Taiwan’s independence and shuns China, as well as Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, and even Singapore.
It’s not like Mr. Tsao was always against China. He was among the first investors from Taiwan to establish sophisticated chip manufacturing facilities in China. He claims, however, that the crackdown in Hong Kong caused him to reconsider: “It was so free and vibrant and now it’s gone.”. And they wish to treat us here in the same way. “.
He claims, “People like me are actually benefiting from this new ruling.”. He thinks it will backfire and make Taiwanese people more determined to oppose China.
“They claim the new law will only impact a small group of staunch advocates of independence like myself, but since the majority of Taiwanese people support either independence or the status quo [maintain things as they are], which is the same thing, we have all turned into criminals. “.
* At the contributors’ request, names were changed.
