TAIPEI – Taiwan President Lai Ching-te labelled China a “foreign hostile force” for the first time as he unveiled wide-ranging measures to counter infiltration efforts, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing.
“China is already a foreign hostile force as defined in our Anti-Infiltration Act,” Mr Lai said in a briefing in Taipei on March 13, referring to a Taiwan law passed in 2019 detailing the punishment for people working with hostile entities. He spoke hours before the 20th anniversary of a Chinese anti-secession law authorising an attack on Taiwan if it declares independence.
Mr Lai’s use of the term may help justify measures he laid out to counter Chinese influence and espionage efforts, which include the potential resumption of military trials for soldiers accused of treason or spying. While the formal designation won’t necessarily lead to an immediate escalation of cross-strait tensions, Mr Lai is taking a tougher stance on Beijing than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, who was also from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.
The comments “only prove that Lai is a saboteur of cross-strait peace, and the creator of the Taiwan crisis,” Mr Chen Binhua, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement late on March 13. “If the separatist forces dare to cross the red line, resolute actions will be taken in response.”
China claims the self-governing democracy is its territory and has vowed to unify with Taiwan, using force if necessary, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on March 7 again declared the island an “inalienable part” of China’s territory.
“This is the history and the reality,” Mr Wang said on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. “Taiwan is never a country, not in the past, and never in the future,” he said. “To connive at ‘Taiwan independence’ is to undermine the stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
China’s air force and navy have stepped up their presence near the island, and Mr Lai on March 13 Thursday noted a jump in espionage cases involving the armed forces.
So he said the government will work to let military tribunals operate in peacetime if soldiers are accused of offences such as treason, aiding the enemy, leaking classified information, dereliction of duty and insubordination.
That would be an extraordinary change in Taiwan, a young democracy that was ruled by martial law for decades until the late 1980s and which currently bans peacetime military tribunals. Taiwan’s shock at South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief declaration of martial law in December 2024 led to legislative efforts to make it harder to take such action on the island.
Still, it is unclear if Mr Lai’s DPP can legislate to allow military tribunals because it lacks a majority in Parliament. Soldiers and civilians accused of espionage already face criminal courts, and the Supreme Court last month upheld the conviction of eight people, including several active-duty officers, for spying for China, the state-backed Central News Agency reported.
In the briefing, Mr Lai also said that Taiwan will move to manage risks posed by Chinese tourists, and establish a transparent mechanism for Taiwanese civil servants to travel to China for exchanges.
That comes after the government repeatedly expressed concern at reports of Taiwanese holding mainland residency permits, which is illegal in Taiwan. The government is also reviewing tightening a path to residency for Macau and Hong Kong people, and this month revoked a residence permit for a Chinese social-media influencer who reportedly advocated the island’s annexation.
Indeed, Mr Lai said he has asked government agencies to strengthen the guidance and management of Taiwanese actors and artistes who work in China, to clearly define potential punishment for words and deeds viewed as endangering national dignity.
The past week has seen online debate in Taiwan over local artistes who reposted Weibo social media posts from Chinese state television referring to “Taiwan, Province of China,” during China’s National People’s Congress.
Mr Lai has repeatedly said he is committed to peace and is open to working with China on a range of issues, but insists neither side of the Taiwan Strait is “subordinate to each other”.
China has cut most official contacts with his administration, but continues to hold meetings with lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang, which favours unification. BLOOMBERG
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