TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwanese youth who made the V sign in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square has been detained for three days, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said Friday (Nov. 15).

SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) quoted the incident as an example of why Taiwanese should be careful when visiting China, the Liberty Times reported. If it was not necessary, it would be better not to travel across the Taiwan Strait, he said.

The problem might have been exacerbated by the fact that in the picture made by the youth, the fingers making the V sign covered up part of the slogan “Long live the People’s Republic of China” on Tiananmen, making it look like “Long live the Republic of China,” Taiwan’s official name, Luo said. He was released after three days and has returned to Taiwan.

The SEF official also mentioned that another Taiwanese traveler had taken a drone with him on a holiday to Xinjiang. His sole motive was to film the natural scenery of the region, but local security officers detained him, Luo said. 

He reminded the public that as China is not a democracy, some actions that might be considered normal in Taiwan might not be tolerated by the Chinese authorities.