China on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven Taiwanese officials and lawmakers it accused of being “resistant to independence,” including an entry ban, in its latest angry rebuke to the democratically-ruled island.
The sanctions come after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan this month, a trip China said had sent the wrong signal to what it sees as pro-independence forces.
China considers Taiwan its own territory and not a separate country. Taiwan’s government denies China’s claim.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said those sanctioned included Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo, and politicians from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan.
A spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office said those sanctioned would not be allowed to visit China, Hong Kong and Macau. Companies and investors related to them will also not be able to make profits in China.
“For some time now, a few pro-independence elements, out of self-interest, have tried their best to collude with outside forces in provocations advocating Taiwan’s independence,” the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing the spokesperson
“They have deliberately instigated clashes across the Taiwan Strait and recklessly undermined peace and stability in the region.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in response that the island was a democracy that “could not be interfered with by China.”
“Furthermore, we cannot accept threats and threats from authoritarian and totalitarian systems,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters in Taipei.
The sanctions will have little practical impact, as high-ranking Taiwanese officials do not visit China. The seven join Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Parliament Speaker You Si-kun who were previously sanctioned by China.
Taiwan’s government says only the island’s 23 million people have the right to decide their own future.