A supporter of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds a sign to support Taiwan’s independence during the vote for the Parliament reform bill in Taipei on May 28, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

China included the death penalty for “particularly serious” cases among judicial guidelines on criminal punishments for “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence published on June 21, state media reported.

Beijing views democratic Taiwan as part of its own territory and has refused to renounce using force to unify with the self-ruled island one day.

It has stepped up pressure on Taipei in recent years and held war games around the island last month following the inauguration of its new leader Lai Ching-te.

State news agency Xinhua said on Friday Beijing had released a notice about punishing “Taiwan independence’ diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession”.

It said the notice specified the death penalty for “ringleaders” of independence efforts who “cause particularly serious harm to the state and the people”.

Other leading advocates could face jail terms ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, the notice said, according to Xinhua.

Taipei hit back swiftly, saying Beijing “has no legal jurisdiction at all over Taiwan” and that the rules “had no binding force on our people”.

“The actions of the Beijing authorities will only provoke confrontation between the peoples across the Taiwan Strait… and are not conducive to positive developments in cross-Strait ties,” the island’s Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.

‘Sharp sword’

According to Xinhua, Beijing’s notice targets those who form “secessionist organisations” or direct people to “carry out activities that split the state”.

It also takes aim at attempts to “change Taiwan’s legal status as a part of China”, promote exchanges between Taiwan and sovereign nations, or “distort or falsify the fact that Taiwan is part of China in the fields of education, culture, history (or) news media”.

Also Read | China Embassy says no such thing as ‘president’ of Taiwan region

The rules take effect in China from Friday, Xinhua said.

Top security official Sun Ping told a news briefing in Beijing on Friday that the guidelines meant “the sharp sword of legal action will always hang high” over alleged secessionists, the state-run People’s Daily reported.

Mr. Sun said the rules “do not target most Taiwanese compatriots, only an extremely small minority” of independence advocates, according to the newspaper.

Mr. Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party who took office on May 20, has hewn closely to the position of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen that Taiwan is effectively already independent and so has no need to declare it formally.

Beijing has branded Mr. Lai a “dangerous separatist” and has not conducted top-level communications with Taipei since 2016.

It continues to maintain a near-daily presence of naval vessels and warplanes around Taiwan and held three-day drills last month dubbed Joint Sword-2024A that it said were a test of its ability to seize control of the island.

Representational image of a Taiwan flag
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to Taiwan of drones and missiles for an estimated $360 million, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.

The United States is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, to the constant anger of Beijing.

China has been stepping up military pressure against Taiwan, including staging war games around the island last month after the inauguration of Lai Ching-te as president.

The sale “will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region”, the Pentagon agency said in separate statements on Tuesday in the United States.

The sale includes Switchblade 300 anti-personnel and anti-armour loitering munitions and related equipment for an estimated cost of $60.2 million, and ALTIUS 600M-V drones and related equipment for an estimated cost of $300 million, the agency added. Loitering munitions are small guided missiles that can fly around a target area until they are directed to attack.

Taiwan’s defence ministry expressed its thanks, especially for U.S. efforts to increase arms sales to the island. Taiwan has repeatedly complained of delayed deliveries.

“In the face of the Chinese communists’ frequent military operations around Taiwan, these U.S.-agreed-to arms sales items will have the ability to detect and strike in real time, and can respond quickly to enemy threats,” it said in a statement.

Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait require goodwill from China, the ministry added.

“It is hoped that the People’s Liberation Army will stop its oppressive military operations around Taiwan and jointly contribute to regional stability.”

China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun speaks during the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, Sunday, June 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The prospect of peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan is being increasingly “eroded” by Taiwanese separatists and external forces, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said on Sunday, promising to ensure independence never happens.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, over the strong objections of the government in Taipei, and last month staged war games round the island in anger at the May 20 inauguration of President Lai Ching-te who Beijing calls a “separatist”.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore, Mr. Dong said Taiwan was the “core of core issues” for China, but Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party is incrementally pursuing separatism and bent on erasing Chinese identity.

“Those separatists recently made fanatical statements that show their betrayal of the Chinese nation and their ancestors. They will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history,” he said.

“China stays committed to peaceful reunification, however this prospect is increasingly being eroded by separatists for Taiwan independence and foreign forces,” Mr. Dong added.

“We will take resolute actions to curb Taiwan independence and make sure such a plot never succeeds.”

China has been repeatedly angered by U.S. support for Taiwan, even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, such as arms sales.

The government in Taipei says Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s Communists who set up the People’s Republic of China.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has warned China not to cross a red line in the South China Sea, saying If any Filipino died as a result of Beijing’s wilful actions, Manila would consider it as close to “an act of war” and respond accordingly.

Addressing the defence-and-security focused Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday night, Mr. Marcos sought to deepen defence cooperation with the U.S. as he stands up to the Chinese military’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

“We shall strengthen our alliances with the United States and our strategic partnerships with Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Brunei, and all the other member states of ASEAN. We will also pursue more robust collaborations with countries such as the Republic of Korea, India amongst others,” Mr. Marcos said.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam claim parts of it.

Mr. Marcos said the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries had a vision for “peace, stability, and prosperity” in the South China Sea, but that this was being undermined by other actors.

“Unfortunately, this vision remains for now a distant reality. Illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions continue to violate our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction,” Mr. Marcos said.

“If a Filipino citizen was killed by a wilful act, that is very close to what we define as an act of war,” he said.

“We would have crossed the Rubicon. Is that a red line? Almost certainly,” he asserted.

China’s determining influence over the security situation and the economic evolution of this region is a permanent fact, he said.

“At the same time, the stabilising presence of the United States is crucial to regional peace. It’s never a choice. Both countries are important,” he underscored.

Mr. Marcos pointed out that security in the South China Sea, through which a huge volume of trade passes, is a global issue.

Mr. Marcos said tensions between the U.S. and China were destabilising for Southeast Asia, calling on Washington and Beijing to work harder to resolve disputes.

“Their rivalry is constraining the strategic choices of regional states. Their contest is exacerbating flashpoints and has created new security dilemmas,” Mr. Marcos said.

“The continued stability of this region requires China and the United States to manage their rivalry in a responsible manner,” he said.

Manila and Beijing have a long history of maritime territorial disputes, but tensions have worsened under Mr. Marcos, who has insisted the Philippines will not give up a “square inch of our territory”.

In recent months the simmering dispute between China and the Philippines over territory in the South China Sea has sharpened into aggressive clashes. Manila has denounced Chinese patrol ships firing water cannons at Philippine boats and supply vessels, injuring some personnel.

Mr. Marcos said on Friday that the South China Sea dispute is an issue that goes beyond the Asia-Pacific region.

The peace and stability of the South China Sea and the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is a world issue, Mr. Marcos said.

The Philippines, a treaty ally of the U.S., is a key focus of Washington’s efforts to strengthen alliances and partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region as it seeks to counter China’s growing military might and influence.

Given its position in the South China Sea and proximity to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own, Philippine support would be crucial for the U.S. in the event of any conflict.

The Philippines expanded a 2014 agreement last year to give U.S. military access to another four of its military bases, taking the total number to nine, including two in the far north of the country, less than 450km from Taiwan.

The Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) also allows U.S. troops to rotate through and store defence equipment and supplies.

The U.S.’ growing presence in the region and its regular deployment of warships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea have infuriated Chinese leaders in Beijing.

China has accused the U.S. of using the Philippines as a “pawn to stir up trouble in the South China Sea”, according to U.S.-China affair watchers and analysts.

China’s Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun is scheduled to address the annual Dialogue on Sunday and is expected to respond to China-related issues on the South China Sea.

The security forum in Singapore was attended by U.S. Defence Secretary Austin and defence chiefs from around the world.

China warned on May 24 of war over Taiwan and said it would ramp up countermeasures until “complete reunification” was achieved, as Chinese forces conducted military drills around the self-ruled island.

Warships and fighter jets encircled Taiwan on the second day of exercises that Beijing said were a test of its ability to seize the island, days after its new president was sworn in.

China’s military kicked off the two-day war games on Thursday morning, surrounding democratic Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft as it vowed the blood of “independence forces” on the island would flow.

The exercises were launched three days after Lai Ching-te took office and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a “confession of independence”.

Beijing’s defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Friday that Lai “has seriously challenged the one-China principle… pushing our compatriots in Taiwan into a perilous situation of war and danger”.

“Every time ‘Taiwan independence’ provokes us, we will push our countermeasures one step further, until the complete reunification of the motherland is achieved,” he said.

The drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China in which it has carried out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years.

They are testing the “capability of joint seizure of power, joint strikes and control of key territories”, Li Xi, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, said on Friday.

Fighter jets loaded with live ammunition scrambled towards targets and bombers formed formations to combine with warships to simulate “strikes against important targets”, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China, which split with Taiwan at the end of a civil war 75 years ago, regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified.

The dispute has long made the Taiwan Strait one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, and this week’s events have stoked fears that China may use military force to bring the island under mainland rule.

The United States, Taiwan’s strongest ally and military backer, “strongly” urged China on Thursday to act with restraint. The United Nations called for all sides to avoid escalation.

Common roots

As the drills – Codenamed “Joint Sword-2024A” – got under way, China said they would serve as “strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”.

Footage published by China’s military showed soldiers streaming out of a building to battle stations and jets taking off to a rousing martial tune.

CCTV reported that Chinese sailors had called out to their Taiwanese counterparts at sea, warning them against “resisting reunification by force”.

An animated graphic published by the Chinese military showed missiles raining down on key targets on the island, declaring it would “cut off the blood vessels for Taiwan independence!”

At a tourist park on Pingtan — a Chinese island situated in the Taiwan Strait — visitors clambered over the rocky landscape to gaze out at the misty horizon as pop music blared from a loudspeaker at nearby tea stalls.

Others posed for pictures in front of a sign proclaiming “the closest distance between the motherland and Taiwan island”, 68 nautical miles (126 kilometres) away.

“We share common roots,” Chen Yan, a 60-year-old woman from Wuhan, told AFP about Taiwan.

“So I think there will definitely be unification,” she added.

Heads broken

China has repeatedly branded Lai a “dangerous separatist” who would bring “war and decline” to the island.

In a speech on Thursday, Lai said he would “stand on the front line” to defend Taiwan, without directly referring to the drills.

Beijing was incensed by his inauguration speech on Monday, in which he hailed a “glorious” era for Taiwan’s democracy.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin delivered a warning on Thursday that included language more commonly used by China’s propaganda outlets.

“Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great… trend of China achieving complete unification,” Wang told reporters.

Beijing’s Xinhua news agency and ruling party organ the People’s Daily ran editorials hailing the drills on Friday, while slamming Lai’s “treacherous behaviour” and promising a “severe blow”.

The drills are taking place in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of the island, as well as areas around the Taipei-administered islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin.

Beijing has said the drills will last until Friday but analysts say it could choose to extend the war games or launch missiles near Taiwan, as it did after a visit to the island by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022.

Taipei’s defence ministry said the Chinese military had gotten within 24 nautical miles of Taiwan’s main island.

Its coast guard reported on Friday that four Chinese vessels entered the “restricted waters” of two Taiwanese islands as two other vessels nearby provided support.

Taipei:

Taiwanese defence and coast guard officials said on Thursday dozens of Chinese warplanes and ships had been detected around the island, less than two weeks before self-ruled Taiwan’s inauguration for a new president.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out using force to bring the island under Beijing’s control.

The Chinese military presence around the island announced by Taipei, which included another 23 warplanes and five naval vessels in the 24 hours leading up to 6 am, also came a day after a US warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait. 

The Coast Guard in Taipei said late on Thursday it had detected 12 Chinese ships around its outlying island of Kinmen.

Kinmen, administered by Taipei but located five kilometres (three miles) from the Chinese city of Xiamen, has seen heightened tensions in recent months, with Chinese coast guard ships maintaining a presence around it. 

The Taiwan Coast Guard said a fleet of seven ships “belonging to China’s maritime and fishery departments entered our restricted waters” around 3 pm local time (0700 GMT), about 4 nautical miles southwest of Kinmen. 

“We suspected the fleet, together with three Chinese fishing, boats, were engaged in maritime exercises,” it said. 

Around the same time, “another fleet of four Chinese coast guard ships entered our prohibited and restricted waters… and another ship sailed outside our waters.” 

The vessels left about 90 minutes later, the coast guard said, noting that this was “the fourth formation of Chinese coast guard ships sailing in Kinmen waters” in May. 

It was also the first time that Chinese coast guard ships “and other Chinese official ships” had sailed together at the same time, it said. 

“This has seriously undermined cross-strait peace, stability and navigation safety, hurt the feelings of people on both sides of the strait, and is unhelpful for peaceful exchanges across the Taiwan Strait,” the coast guard said.

China has stepped up patrols around Kinmen after a series of deadly fishing incidents earlier this year. 

A Chinese speedboat carrying four people capsized near Kinmen on February 14 while Taiwan’s coast guard was pursuing it, killing two people.

Another Chinese boat capsized in the area in March, also resulting in the deaths of two crew members.

Taiwan’s coast guard had defended its actions but the row has added to tensions, already high after Taiwan’s elections in January won by Vice President Lai Ching-te. 

Lai, like outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen, rejects China’s claim on Taiwan. 

Warship sail-through

Thursday’s maritime presence around Kinmen came after Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected nearly two dozen Chinese warplanes and five navy ships around the island in the 24 hours leading up to 6 am Thursday (2200 GMT).

That coincided with a US warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180-kilometre (110-mile) body of water separating the island from China, on Wednesday. 

The USS Halsey destroyer “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”, the US 7th fleet said.  

It said the Halsey’s transit “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle”.

Chinese naval colonel Li Xi, spokesman for the Eastern Theatre Command, called the US warship sail-through “public hype”. 

He added in a statement late on Wednesday that the Eastern Theatre command had also organised naval and air forces “to monitor the passage of the US ship through the entire process”. 

“Troops in the theatre remain on high alert at all times and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security,” the statement said. 

China had warned before Taiwan’s elections that Lai would bring “war and decline” to the island, making the lead-up to his May 20 inauguration a closely watched period.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)