A company owned by the father of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) has been sanctioned by China, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Companies linked to “Taiwan independence” separatists would not be allowed “to profit from the mainland,” Xinhua cited China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) as saying.
Shen’s father, Shen Tu-cheng (沈土城), serves as head of Sicuens International Co (兆億有限公司).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The company is prohibited from performing transactions or cooperating with any organizations, enterprises or individuals in China, Zhu was quoted as saying.
Other measures would be taken if necessary, she said.
Puma Shen said in a video he posted online that he was “honored” to be sanctioned by the Taiwan Affairs Office for the third time in one year, adding that the sanctions harm the interests of China’s citizens.
China is punishing him and his family for his support of national security-related amendments and laws, including that lawmakers should be required to report visits to China and be punished for engaging in “united front” work, he said.
“For China, even breathing is considered Taiwanese independence,” he said, adding that punishing his family for his own political views was “collective punishment.”
In October last year, the office named Puma Shen in a list of “Taiwanese independence activists,” banning him from traveling to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and restricted cooperation with his organizations, such as the Kuma Academy.
Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao on Tuesday reported that Shen Tu-cheng had made hundreds of millions of yuan in business dealings, had an affair with a Chinese woman and made his money by reselling Chinese goods.
Ta Kung Pao reported that the Kuma Academy made money by selling “war anxiety” to Taiwanese.
Puma Shen said that the newspaper reports were slanderous and fabrications.
Wang Chih-sheng (王智盛), an associate professor in Central Police University’s Border Police Department, said the reporting and actions by Chinese authorities show that the actions were arranged.
The authorities are punishing Puma Shen and his family due to anxieties about the recall movement targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, Wang said.
Additional reporting by Li Wen-Hsin
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