Beijing (EFE).- Chinese police on Saturday offered a bounty of 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for information on 18 alleged members of the Taiwanese military’s psychological operations unit they accuse of spreading “separatist” messages.
According to authorities in Xiamen, the closest Chinese coastal city to Taiwan, the unit has “six divisions handling tasks such as disinformation, intelligence gathering, tactical psychological warfare, broadcast propaganda, and mobilization.”
The bounties come a day after Taiwanese President William Lai announced the development of a “rigorous air defense system” to counter growing pressure from China, which considers the island an “inalienable part” of its territory.
In a statement, Xiamen police accused the group of creating websites to spread smear campaigns, games inciting secession, deceptive videos, and operated illegal radios for infiltration and manipulated public opinion to promote “fallacies of ‘Taiwan independence.’”
The statement also calls on Taiwanese citizens to distance themselves from separatist forces “through concrete actions, provide clues on their illegal activities, and work with mainland compatriots to oppose ‘Taiwan independence.’”
The issuance of such a statement is merely symbolic, as mainland Chinese authorities have no actual jurisdiction over Taiwan, a territory that has been self-governing since 1949.
In addition to announcing the improvement of its defense systems, Lai also urged China to “renounce the use of force or coercion to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.”
China’s response came on Friday, when a Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that Lai was leading the island toward a “dangerous scenario of armed conflict” and accused him of “fabricating all kinds of lies to promote independence by force and oppose reunification” with the mainland. EFE
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