Taiwan leader says China ‘has no right to punish’ island after Beijing threatens death penalty for ‘diehard’ supporters

Taiwan’s new President has fired back after Beijing warned “diehard” supporters of the island’s independence could face the death penalty.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has warned China “has no right to punish” Taiwanese people for their views or advocacy, after Beijing warned “diehard” supporters of the island’s independence could face the death penalty.

China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has refused to rule out using force to bring the island under its control.

Beijing has stepped up pressure on Taipei in recent years and held military drills around the self-ruled island days after Lai’s inauguration last month.

On Friday, Beijing published new judicial guidelines that included the death penalty for “particularly serious” cases involving “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence, state media reported.

When asked to comment on the guidelines, Lai said: “I want to emphasise that democracy is not the source of crime. Autocracy is the crime.”

“China has no right to punish the people of Taiwan just because of what they advocate. China has no right to pursue cross-border prosecution of Taiwanese people.”

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has warned China ‘has no right to punish’ Taiwanese people for their views or advocacy.

Lai warned that relations between the two sides would become “more and more alienated” if China does not “face up to the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name), and conduct exchanges and dialogues with Taiwan’s democratically elected and legitimate government”.

“This is the correct way to enhance the wellbeing of people on both sides” of the Taiwan Strait, he said.

Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party has long asserted Taiwanese sovereignty, and Beijing has not conducted top-level communications with Taipei since 2016, when his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen came to power.

China has branded Lai a “dangerous separatist” and denounced his inaugural speech as a “confession of Taiwan independence”.

During that speech, Lai signalled an openness to resuming dialogue with Beijing, calling for both sides to develop exchanges.

China, however, has appeared to rebuff those overtures.

Beijing’s notice targets those who form “secessionist organisations” or direct people to “carry out activities that split the state”.

Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party has long asserted Taiwanese sovereignty, and Beijing has not conducted top-level communications with Taipei since 2016, when his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen came to power.

Beijing’s notice targets those who form ‘secessionist organisations’ or direct people to ‘carry out activities that split the state’.

It also takes aim at attempts to “change Taiwan’s legal status as a part of China”, promote exchanges between Taiwan and sovereign nations, or “distort or falsify the fact that Taiwan is part of China in the fields of education, culture, history (or) news media”.

Top security official Sun Ping told a news briefing in Beijing on Friday that the guidelines meant “the sharp sword of legal action will always hang high” over alleged secessionists, the state-run People’s Daily reported.

Sun said the rules “do not target most Taiwanese compatriots, only an extremely small minority” of independence advocates, according to the newspaper.

Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party who took office on May 20, has hewn closely to the position of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen that Taiwan is effectively already independent and so has no need to declare it formally.

It continues to maintain a near-daily presence of naval vessels and warplanes around Taiwan, and held three-day drills last month dubbed Joint Sword-2024A that it said were a test of its ability to seize control of the island.