Beijing | China said on Wednesday it was banning Chinese movies and actors from participating in Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, one of the Asian film industry's most prestigious honours, as Beijing ramps up economic and political pressure on the island it claims as its own territory.

The one-sentence announcement on the microblog of China Film News, a newspaper affiliated with government film regulator, gave no reason for the suspension, but it comes amid rising tensions over Taiwan's refusal to recognise being part of Chinese territory to eventually be brought under Beijing's rule.

AAP