China: Taiwanese political activist charged with 'secession'

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on her way to New York, March 29, 2023. REUTERS - ANN WANG

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A Taiwanese politician, visiting mainland China, was charged on Tuesday, April 25 with "secession". The Taiwanese government is warning against visiting the mainland, accusing Beijing of wanting to sow fear among Taiwanese. China considers the island part of its territory and makes no secret of its desire to "reunify" the island and the mainland.

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Why was Yang Chih-yuan on the Chinese mainland? No one knows. Suspected of "separatism", the vice-president of a small party that campaigns for Taiwanese independence, was arrested last August in the east of the country, in Wenzhou, at the time when Beijing was protesting against the visit to Taiwan of Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the US House of Representatives.

Yang Chih-yuan is accused of having reignited tensions between China and Taiwan by preparing a series of events in favor of the island's independence, a red line not to be crossed in the eyes of Beijing. He is also said to have campaigned for Hong Kong independence.

On Tuesday, April 25, Yang Chih-yuan was formally charged with "secession" by the Wenzhou Supreme People's Procuratorate. The announcement was sharply criticized by the government in Taipei, which said that "arbitrary arrests of Taiwanese seriously undermine the rights and interests of our people and create fear."

Taipei is also worried about publisher Li Yanhe. The Taiwanese publisher of books critical of the Chinese regime disappeared in early April during a family visit to Shanghai.

>> Also listen: Are Taiwanese really afraid of an imminent Chinese invasion? [REPLAY]

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• Taiwan
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