Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office Photo: cnsphoto

Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen defended the "anti-infiltration law" on Wednesday by alleging normal exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan won't be affected, but some Taiwan youths expressed their anger and concerns that the law would authorize the Taiwan authorities to persecute and censor people with mainland connections while expressing the hope the mainland would issue countermeasures. 

Taiwan-based news portal website taiwannews.com.tw reported that Tsai said Wednesday "the legislation will not infringe upon the freedoms and rights of the people, nor would it affect normal exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Only acts instructed, commissioned, and sponsored by Beijing that meddle in Taiwanese society would be ruled as unlawful." 

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, said in a statement on Tuesday that the law was "green terror" - the color of the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) - and would hurt the interests of the Taiwan people.

People from all walks of life within the island strongly condemned and opposed the DPP actions, said Zhu.

The controversial bill reportedly bans people on the island from receiving instructions, requests, financial aid or political donations from "infiltrating sources."

Zheng Bo-yu, 31, from Taiwan, who works in Beijing, told the Global Times that he won't be fooled by Tsai, as the authorities and the courts in Taiwan were "all controlled by the DPP, and they could just use this law to prosecute anyone that has connections with the mainland."

"So we are all possible DPP targets," he said.

Tommy Lin, 22, a Taiwanese Beijing university student, said Taiwan students like him had similar concerns, "because every university in the mainland has the branches of the Communist Party of China and Communist Youth League of China."

Some of his friends from Taiwan have won scholarships, he noted.

"The money comes from government departments of the mainland, so are they sponsored by Beijing? Are they spies? The law deeply hurts the normal exchanges between the two sides of the Straits," Lin said.

People from all walks of life within the island strongly condemned and opposed the DPP actions that were against the trend of the times and sabotaging peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, said Zhu, the spokesperson.

Those targeted by the new law included any political party, organization or individual that holds a position contradictory to the DPP, media that criticizes the DPP, Taiwan people who come to the Chinese mainland for education or work, including participants in cross-Straits communications and cooperation, said Zhu at a routine press conference on December 25.

Violators will be sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years, besides fines of up to 10 million new Taiwan dollars ($334,600), reports said.

KMT party candidate Han Kuo-yu told media on Sunday that once the "anti-infiltration bill" is passed, people like (music band in Taiwan) Mayday and baker Wu Pao-chun (who has a bakery in Shanghai) might also be liable for prosecution. 

This is like hanging bombs around the necks of Taiwan people, which the DPP can detonate at any time, Han said.

Zheng said the people who love peace and recognize the identity of the Chinese nation have paid huge efforts in past decades to build a strong connection between the two sides of the Straits, and millions of people are benefiting from this connection, but today the exchanges are in danger. 

"We hope the mainland issues more countermeasures to balance the negative impact to make normal exchanges continue to serve the people of the both sides," Zheng said.

"If the mainland can take care of the Taiwan youths in the mainland, which not just provides financial assistance, but offers them more equal treatment and reduces more limitation on doing business, studying and living, more Taiwan people are still willing to come, as the mainland has more opportunities and has a more developed society," he said. 

"But unfortunately, most Taiwan people have no idea about this and the DPP just wants to keep them in blindness," he added.

"We sternly warn the DPP authorities that no force will be able to change the will of compatriots on both sides and the fact that blood is thicker than water. If they wish to look out for one another, then no force will be able to change the trend of compatriots on both sides as they share the same fate," Zhu said.

Going against the interests of the people, creating wilful cross-Straits hostility and confrontation will definitely lead the DPP to fall victim to its evil deeds, Zhu said.


Newspaper headline: Cross-Straits ties endangered