What’s new: China’s Taiwan Affairs Office announced further sanctions Friday on Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s representative in Washington, for “relying on the U.S. to seek independence” of the island and “provoking confrontation” between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Beijing also imposed similar sanctions on the same day against two organizations — the Prospect Foundation and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats — for allegedly promoting the idea of “Taiwan independence” internationally and approaching and supporting anti-China forces, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Hsiao, her family members and the leaders of the two organizations will be banned from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, and any companies connected to them will be prohibited from doing business with organizations and individuals from the mainland, according to Chinese state media.
What’s more: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced that Chinese universities and institutions would be restricted from working with the Hudson Institute and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library from Friday.
The director of the Hudson Institute and the chief administrative officer of the Reagan Library, along with two other individuals associated with the institutions, will be banned from entering China and their assets and properties in China frozen.
The foreign ministry said the two institutions facilitated Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen’s “separatist activities” in the U.S. in late March and this week, violating the “One China” principle and “undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The background: Tsai met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the U.S. during her stopover trip this week, an arrangement Beijing expressed “firm opposition” to.
Beijing issued sanctions against Hsiao and several other “pro-independence diehards” last August after U.S. congressional members and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Leila Hashemi (leilahashemi@caixin.com)
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