BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) -Chinese police on Thursday issued a wanted notice and offered a $35,000 reward for two Taiwanese social media influencers they accused of “separatism”, what Taipei says is an effort by China to bring fear to Taiwanese.
Beijing has accused dozens of people in democratically-governed Taiwan, which it views as Chinese territory, of “separatism”, including elected lawmakers. Chinese law does not apply in Taiwan, which has its own judicial system.
Taiwanese influencers Pa Chiung and Chen Po-yuan – a rapper better known by his stage name Mannam PYC – have long been engaged in publishing and “inciting separatist views”, police in Quanzhou, the city facing Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait, said in a statement.
Those who make significant contributions to helping in their capture will get a reward of up to 250,000 yuan ($35,098), the police said in a statement.
Both men, in separate statements on their Threads accounts, dismissed the threats.
“I stand up for myself. The greater the wind, the more stable I am,” Chen wrote.
Pa Chiung said he had only seen the news after waking up.
“So it seems I have become Puma Shen,” he added, referring to the ruling party lawmaker China began investigating last month for alleged “separatist” activity.
Chen and Pa Chiung are both well-known for their public criticism of China.
Taiwan’s government has said that China is trying to bring “red terror”, the colour of its ruling Communist Party, with its efforts at “long-armed jurisdiction” by accusing Taiwanese of “separatism”.
Shen, visiting Berlin on Wednesday to testify at a German parliament hearing into disinformation, said China was threatening to try to get him arrested while abroad, but that he was not frightened.
“China has long sought to silence the people of Taiwan through intimidation. I want to tell everyone that, as brave Taiwanese, we will not back down because of this,” he said in a statement.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
($1 = 7.1230 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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