China will make people who support Taiwan's independence criminally liable for life, a spokeswoman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office says.
It's the first time China has spelled out concrete punishment for people deemed to be pro-Taiwan independence, as tensions rise between the mainland and the self-ruled island China claims as its own.
The office named Taiwan's Premier Su Tseng-chang, Parliament Speaker You Si-kun and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu as people who are "stubbornly pro-Taiwan independence", and made public for the first time it has drawn up a list of people who fall into this category.
China will enforce punishment on the people on the list, by not letting them enter the mainland and China's regions of Hong Kong and Macau, spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said in a statement on Friday.
Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang holds a microphone as opposition party lawmakers from the Nationalist party block his attempt to speak. Source: FTV
The blacklisted people will not be allowed to co-operate with entities or people from the mainland, nor will their companies or entities who fund them be allowed to profit from the mainland, she said.
Taiwanese politicians typically rely on donations from companies to fund their election campaigns. Many Taiwanese companies derive profits from doing business with the mainland.
China will also take "any other necessary measures" against these people, Ms Zhu said.
"Those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland and split the country, will never end up well and will be spurned by the people and judged by history."
