TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Wednesday (May 15) said it will “punish” five Taiwanese TV commentators for being critical of China.
TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華) at a press briefing said China would impose sanctions on five Taiwanese TV commentators, including Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), Edward Huang (黃世聰), Lee Cheng-hao (李正皓), Yu Pei-chen (于北辰), and Liu Baojie (劉寶傑). Chen claimed they “deliberately fabricated false and negative information" about China and “instigated cross-strait confrontations.”
Chen alleged their “erroneous remarks deceived some Taiwanese people, incited hostility and confrontation across the strait, and hurt the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait." Chen said Beijing would "punish the five individuals and their families under the law.”
Chen added, "To remain silent and condone evil is to be unjust and harmful to goodness." Public opinion is not outside the law, and any behavior that fabricates, spreads rumors, disrupts social order, and damages national honor and interests will be punished by law, said Chen.
When asked about the specific sanctions and whether Taiwan's institutional guarantee of freedom of speech would lead to increasing distance between Taiwan and China, Chen referred to previous measures taken by China against Taiwan's independence and emphasized that freedom of speech is not beyond the law “nor is it a talisman or shield for wrongdoing.”
Previous measures taken against Taiwanese pro-independence figures included prohibiting them and their families from entering China, Hong Kong, and Macau, restricting their affiliated organizations from cooperating with China-related entities or individuals, and not allowing their associated businesses and sponsors to profit in China, reported Yahoo News.
Presidential Office spokesperson Olivia Lin (林聿禪) said Wednesday that Taiwan is a democratic country, and “the Constitution expressly guarantees people's freedom of speech,” reported UDN. Lin stressed, “China has no right to interfere.”
Faced with such personal threats, Lin said the government will spare no effort to ensure the safety of the Taiwanese threatened.
Lin pointed out that the Beijing authorities have long lacked institutional confidence and have consistently used various forms of suppression and threats against dissenting voices at home and abroad. “It is common knowledge that people and media reporters have been detained and persecuted, which has consistently kept China's human rights ranking at the bottom,” said Lin.
Lin said that this time, China's leaders not only showed no signs of improvement but also extended their infringement on democratic freedoms to Taiwan, naming and threatening media personnel and their families. “This arbitrary and overbearing behavior not only deepens the mistrust of Taiwan but also further tarnishes China's international image,” said Lin.
Lin also called on China, as a major regional power, to align with Taiwanese society and face the values of freedom, democracy, and diversity more confidently. “Only through mutual respect and a pragmatic attitude toward promoting cross-strait exchanges can the relationship between the two sides of the strait be improved and the well-being of the people enhanced,” concluded Lin.
