A Chinese mainland spokeswoman criticized the Democratic Progressive Party authorities on Wednesday, describing their attempt to amend the so-called "anti-infiltration act" as a tool to suppress political dissent and restrict cross-Strait exchanges.
Zhang Han, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the act was fabricated by the DPP authorities to suppress political dissent, intimidate Taiwan residents, restrict cross-Strait exchanges, and advance their own political interests.
The DPP authorities recently said they had initiated procedures to amend the act in response to what they described as "transnational repression", proposing to introduce additional criminal offenses and impose harsher penalties.
Zhang called the act an outright "evil law", saying it had faced doubts and criticism from Taiwan society since its inception.
"The so-called 'transnational repression' is a lie fabricated by the DPP authorities to justify their secessionist agenda, promote the 'two-state theory', and once again expose their ulterior motives," she said.
Taiwan's "mainland affairs council" said it would set up a dedicated hotline to assist people who claim to have been "victimized".
Zhang said the DPP authorities' move at this juncture was a "clumsy attempt" to further promote "green terror", amplify the chilling effect, fuel confrontation across the Taiwan Strait, and deceive the public.
"Such tactics will not win public support," she added.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's "internal affairs authority" recently said applications by mainland residents to visit Taiwan for tourism would be rejected if their statements or actions were deemed to undermine Taiwan's status or violate other related requirements.
A mainland resident recently posted a notice requesting supplementary documents for an application to visit Taiwan through the island's online application system on social media. The notice asked the applicant to resubmit a hotel booking confirmation with the words "Taiwan, China" removed and separately provide written statements including "the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not subordinate to each other".
In response, Zhang criticized the DPP authorities for clinging to their separatist stance of "Taiwan independence" and repeatedly obstructing cross-Strait tourism and exchanges in various fields.
"This is purely a politically motivated maneuver with ulterior motives," she said.
Zhang stressed that the desire of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to strengthen ties and the broader trend toward cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation are unstoppable. Any attempt to reverse the course of history and go against this trend, she said, would inevitably face a backlash from the public.
