Taiwan’s Tsai signs anti-infiltration law against China

TAIWANESE president Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday signed into a law a bill preventing China from interfering in the self-ruled island’s democracy.

“The Anti-infiltration Law is not against normal exchanges [with China],” Tsai said during a televised news conference held at the Presidential Office.

The law was established to further ensure Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, targeting infiltration rather than normal exchanges, Tsai explained when the bill was passed last month.

Under the Anti-Infiltration Law, actions backed by foreign hostile forces - such as election interference and illegal political donations - are subjected to punishment of up to five years imprisonment or a fine up to 10 million New Taiwan dollars (334,030 US dollars).

The signing was conducted days after Tsai won reelection, in a victory that has been attributed to her dogged resistance to China’s expansionism and growing anti-Beijing sentiment in Taiwan.

“The Chinese government should try to understand the will and opinion expressed by the Taiwanese people in the elections and start to review its existing policies [toward

Taiwan],” Tsai said. Beijing charged that Tsai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) sought political and electoral benefits from the new law, warning that the legislation would undermine cross-strait exchanges, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.

During the campaign, concerns about Chinese infiltration were widely discussed, with Tsai warning in her New Year’s address that Taiwan needs “to stay alert to Chinese infiltration that is disuniting our society.” Taiwan has had its own government since 1949. Beijing considers the self-ruled democracy part of its territory.