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Taiwan's Parliament, May 17, 2019. REUTERS / Tyrone Siu

Ten days before the presidential election, the Taiwanese parliament passed a law to limit foreign interference in political life. China, which claims Taiwan, is particularly targeted.

With our correspondent in Taiwan , Adrien Simorre

This is an unprecedented text that the Taiwanese Parliament adopted on Tuesday. The new law now prohibits all political activity conducted with the support of China.

In Taiwan, Beijing is notably accused of wanting to favor the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT). With the approach of the Taiwanese presidential election , the adoption of the text therefore made some teeth cringe.

Jason Hsu, MP for Kuomintang, has just left Parliament. " It is questionable that ten days before the elections, such a law is passed so hastily, " he said. It is precisely the tactics of the party in power to play on the fears of the Taiwanese who would be worried about a Taiwan which would be closer to China. "

The law had been in the pipeline for almost a year, however. Karen Yu, MP for the ruling Progressive Party (PDP), participated in its development. " The Kuomintang tried to stop the procedure or they were spreading false information about this anti-infiltration law, " she said. In public, the Kuomintang says it supports all the laws that protect Taiwan. But in reality, they did a lot to prevent this law from passing. "

The text will now have to prove itself. Faced with the complexity of the phenomenon, many, even the majority, already doubt its effectiveness.