The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on June 6 reported the first instance of a member of a Taiwanese tour group traveling in China being detained for several days by Chinese authorities, and warned Taiwanese to carefully assess whether traveling to China is necessary and to be vigilant about personal safety.
The person was detained because they had worked in a “sensitive” profession before retirement, local media cited anonymous sources as saying.
The case was revealed only a day after another Taiwanese man, surnamed Lin (林), posted on Threads that when he displayed his photo books at an arts and books exhibition in Nanjing on May 31, he was taken away for interrogation by Chinese police. They handcuffed him, forced him to remove his clothes, took his fingerprints and a blood sample, and asked personal questions about his family and sexual orientation, before releasing him at midnight.
BBC News Chinese reported that the police told Lin he was put under administrative detention for allegedly selling obscene images.
The MAC has repeatedly told the public to avoid unnecessary visits to China, saying that its expanded national security laws, including an updated counterespionage law and its revised state secrets law, expanded the definition of “sensitive information,” but is “highly vague” and could mean people might be breaking the law at any time.
The Straits Exchange Foundation in August last year also said that there are many differences between the legal systems of Taiwan and China, and what is ordinary in Taiwan might be deemed illegal in China, so visitors should make adequate preparations and be aware of personal safety risks before traveling to China.
That view is shared with several countries.
The US Department of State issued a level 3 travel advisory for China in 2020, which is still in place, which states: “Reconsider travel due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans, and the risk of wrongful detentions.”
The UK’s travel advice for China also says that China’s authorities have detained foreign nationals who break national security laws, that “national security” and “national interest” could be interpreted broadly, and that “activity that happened outside of China — including online activity — could fall under the scope of mainland legislation” and “there is a risk of arbitrary detention.”
While cases of arbitrary arrests of Taiwanese in China have been reported multiple times, including democracy advocates Lee Ming-che (李明哲), Lee Meng-chu (李孟居) and Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵), many Taiwanese remain unconcerned, as they do not believe they would be targeted as long as they are not high-profile political activists and do not commit obvious crimes.
Many comments on reports about Taiwanese detained in China were also uncompassionate, with people online saying they have never encountered any trouble in China, so it must be due to the victims’ immoral behavior or criminal activities.
The public’s overconfidence is concerning, as other cases have proven that foreigners in China have been interrogated on a wide range of issues or detained by Chinese authorities for allegedly breaching its national security laws.
An I-Kuan Tao (一貫道, a salvationist religion) follower was also detained last year for bringing books promoting vegetarianism to China.
If many Taiwanese are becoming numb to the repeated warnings, in the same way many are becoming used to China’s daily military activities near Taiwan, or are wrapped up in a false sense of security from pro-China politicians and influencers promoting China’s friendliness to the world, then the government might need to rethink its approach to informing the public of the risks of going to or staying in China.
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