Beijing/Taipei - China imposed visa bans and other sanctions Tuesday on Taiwanese political figures as Taiwan accused China of exaggeration after the Chinese military published footage of the strategically located Penghu islands.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has carried out military exercises around the Penghu islands this month, where there is a major Taiwanese air base, after a visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was followed by five U.S. lawmakers on Sunday and Monday.
The Chinese military unit responsible for the area adjacent to Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command, released on Monday video of the Penghu islands, apparently taken by a Chinese air force aircraft.
Taiwan Air Force Vice Chief of Staff for Operations Tung Pei-lun told reporters in Taipei that this was Chinese information warfare, though he said he had no comment on who had taken the video.
China imposed sanctions just a day after the country set more military exercises in the seas and skies surrounding Taiwan in response to what it called “collusion and provocation between the U.S. and Taiwan.” There’s been no word on the timing and scale of the Chinese exercises.
They were announced the same day a U.S. congressional delegation met with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, and after a similar visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years. The Chinese government objects to Taiwan having any official contact with foreign governments because it considers Taiwan its own territory, and its recent saber rattling has emphasized its threat to take the island by military force.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that China had overreacted with its “provocative and totally unnecessary response to the congressional delegation that visited Taiwan earlier this month.”
The targets of China’s latest sanctions include Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the U.S., Bi-khim Hsiao and legislators Ker Chien-ming, Koo Li-hsiung, Tsai Chi-chang, Chen Jiau-hua and Wang Ting-yu, along with activist Lin Fei-fan.
They will be barred from traveling to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, and from having any financial or personal connections with people and entities in those areas, according to the ruling Communist Party’s Taiwan Work Office.
Taiwan has put its military on alert but has taken no major countermeasures against the Chinese measures. The country also announced air force and ground-to-air missile drills for Thursday and Friday.
-AP/Reuters