BEIJING/TAIPEI: China has imposed further restrictions on Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, barring her and her family from entering the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau, according to official media.
The penalties, released by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, also bar Hsiao-related investors and enterprises from collaborating with mainland organisations and individuals.
“Wow, the People’s Republic of China has just sanctioned me again, for the second time,” Hsiao tweeted in response to the announcement, according to Reuters.
China also sanctioned The Prospect Foundation, which is led by a former Taiwanese foreign minister, and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, a multinational alliance co-founded in 1993 by Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). According to state media, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office accused the institutions of internationalizing the concept of “Taiwan independence.”
After former US House Reprentatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, China imposed sanctions, including an entry ban, on seven Taiwanese officials and lawmakers, including Hsiao, accusing them of being “independence diehards,” prompting condemnation from the democratically governed island.
China considers Taiwan its own territory, not an independent country. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s claim.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, Secretary-General of Taiwan’s National Security Council Wellington Koo, and DPP politicians are also on the August sanctions list. A senior Taiwanese officials do not visit China and Chinese courts do not have jurisdiction in Taiwan,
Chinese sanctions will have little practical impact.
According to DPP lawmaker Chao Tien-lin, the sanctions imposed on Hsiao are “absurd.” “This has no bearing on her,” he told reporters in parliament.
