Beijing added more Taiwanese people and entities to its list of “diehard Taiwanese independence” advocates today, barring them from entering China or its territories and imposing further sanctions.
Those newly added to the list are Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) and the Kuma Academy.
Shen is the founder of the academy, a nonprofit civil defense organization that offers training on responding to emergencies, first aid, media literacy and other topics.
Tsao, a business tycoon who has donated to the academy and pledged millions of dollars to help bolster the nation’s security, in the past few years has become an outspoken advocate for Taiwan’s defense and critic of China.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the academy is supported by the DPP authorities and “interventionist outside forces.”
It nurtures “violent Taiwanese independence” activists and activities under the guise of training, Chen said.
Shen, as the person in charge of the academy, has engaged in “organized and systematic separatist activities,” teaching “hatred of China to people in Taiwan, especially young people,” he added.
Chen also accused Tsao of enabling the academy’s operations by providing significant financial support and advocating for the use of force to reject unification.
Tsao has also funded a television drama about Taiwanese independence, he added.
Shen, Tsao and their families are now barred from entering China, Hong Kong or Macau, Chen said.
Entities and individuals in China are barred from cooperating with any entity linked to the two men or the academy, he added.
Also on the sanctions list are former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), DPP Legislator You Si-kun (游錫堃), National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), former Sunflower movement leader Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), former New Power Party legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) and DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇).
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