Taiwan Responds to Beijing's Threat of Death Sentences | China in Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, Taiwan's new president facing off against Beijing's shocking decree, the threat of the death penalty for anyone found supporting Taiwanese independence. Democracy is not a crime. It's autocracy that is the real evil. Media mouthpieces for China's communist regime now operating in over 70 percent of African countries and reports say it's pushing anti-US messaging. Seven pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong are back in a Hong Kong court, including former media mogul Jimmy Lai. They're appealing to get their convictions overturned. More on what's happening. And China's state-run Global Times reporting that Beijing wants the EU to scrap its tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles by July 4th. Details on the escalating tariff war. Taiwan's president is responding to Beijing's death threats against supporters of Taiwanese independence. Beijing threatened to impose the death penalty for what it called die-hard Taiwan independence fans. Actually, I want to stress that democracy is not a crime. It's autocracy that is the real evil. China has absolutely no right to sanction Taiwan's people just because of the positions they hold. What's more, China has no right to go after Taiwan people's rights across borders. I also want to call on China to face up to the existence of the Republic of China and have exchanges and dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected legitimate government. This is the only correct way to increase the welfare of people on both sides of the strait. If this is not done, relations between Taiwan and China will only become more and more estranged. Despite China's latest punishment guidelines, Chinese courts have no jurisdiction over the democratically governed island. Lai rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan's people can decide their future. He has repeatedly offered talks with China, which Beijing has rejected. New intel from a cybersecurity intelligence company is spelling trouble for Taiwan. It says a hacking group barraged and surrounded Taiwan with cyber attacks for months and that the hackers are likely from China. Sectors targeted include government, education, technology and diplomacy. The cyber hacking group is known as Red Juliet and was observed attacking over 70 entities between November of last year through this April. The attacks coincide with the lead-up to Taiwan's presidential election and then the lead-up to new president's inauguration. Cybersecurity company Recorded Future says the attacks matched patterns seen in the activity of Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups. Red Juliet is likely based in China's Fujian province, located closest to Taiwan. Recorded Future says the group is likely targeting Taiwan in order to collect intelligence on Taiwan's economic and diplomatic relations and critical technology development. A battle of ideas in Africa. A new report says China has been growing its media presence there and pushing anti-American messaging. What's at stake? Antony's Juliet Song has more. A new report says Beijing's mouthpiece now has a presence in over 70 percent of African countries, while U.S.-funded broadcaster Voice of America only has one bureau on the continent. There's an impact in the sense that China is able to establish and instill certain media and ideological narratives on the African continent. Narratives such as solidarity with China, you know, sort of trying to export authoritarian models onto the African continent. Herman Wasserman, head of the University of Cape Town's media studies department, detailed one case. He told the Epoch Times that he's seen Chinese media reports outline how U.S. companies are profiting from Russia's war on Ukraine. He said the media reports suggested that Washington is keeping the war going because it's making money. But what makes Africa a target for influence? The continent has abundant rare earth minerals, resources critical for making green energy products. African countries also hold over a quarter of the voting power in the United Nations. And economic pressure on those countries could sway their choice of votes. Zooming out, Chinese state-controlled broadcasters have a big reach in Africa. In Kenya alone, China's state broadcaster Xinhua reaches more than 10 million people every month. China's propaganda department also provides free content for African state and private broadcasters. In addition, it trains many young African journalists and sends them on paid trips to China. China trains a lot of journalists, actually probably trains more journalists, more African journalists than any other Western country. Nantolia noted Chinese propaganda has had a limited impact so far. He said a poll sampling residents from over 40 African countries showed over 70 percent of them prefer democracy. He added that U.S. media needs to ramp up its presence. Voice of America previously went from five bureaus to one due to limited budgets. In 2022, President Biden pledged to invest 55 billion in Africa over the course of three years. Beware the falling objects. Over in southwest China, online footage shows what appears to be a rocket booster crashing into a wooded village, sending plumes of yellow smoke into the air. In a separate video, large pieces of debris appear scattered near a resident's home. Some speculate the component came from a Chinese satellite known as the Long March 2C. The spacecraft was launched into orbit from China's Sichuan province at 3 p.m. on Saturday. But it's not the first time a Chinese rocket took an uncontrolled plunge back into Earth's atmosphere. U.S. officials have long criticized the communist regime over its handling of rocket debris. Is China outpacing the U.S. in nuclear power? A new report estimates America could be as much as 15 years behind in deploying advanced nuclear reactors. Why is China racing ahead and what does it mean for global nuclear technology and security? To discuss, we sat down with Kelly Sloan, public policy analyst and columnist for the Denver Gazette and Rocky Mountain Voice. Kelly Sloan, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. Thanks for having me. Now, a new report is saying that China is likely 10 to 15 years ahead of the U.S. when it comes to deploying fourth-generation nuclear reactors at scale. Now, what is the impact of China's fast nuclear rollout here? Well, I think a large part of the impact is going to be on their domestic energy, for one thing, and how that plays out at home. I think it's also going to play a lot into their nuclear weapons program. My sense is that the Chinese Communist Party is not terribly interested in nuclear power as an energy source. I think that their pursuit of nuclear technology is more geared ultimately towards weapons. There's another report that says China is pursuing a significant expansion of its nuclear arsenal, to one of your points. Now, to what extent do the wars in Ukraine and Gaza contribute to China's buildup? Well, very huge, especially in Ukraine. The Chinese are watching that very closely. China does want to maintain not so much nuclear deterrent, but they want to maintain, build up their nuclear forces because they do want to be able to project power. They want to be able to use it as a threat. Of course, that all centers on Taiwan. I believe that the Chinese Communist Party, there is some scenarios where they would potentially use nuclear weapons. A colleague of mine, when we were in Taiwan two years ago, asked a former Chinese foreign minister if he believed that China would use nuclear weapons in an assault on Taiwan. The chilling answer was that China wants the island, not the people. That's precisely correct. For all their bluster and rhetoric about reunification, and let's face it, the Republic of China has never been part of the People's Republic of China, so there's no such thing as reunification. For all their rhetoric about uniting the two Chinas and all this, what they want is the island because an independent Taiwan, it's aligned and allied with Western powers, prevents China from having a true nude water neighbor. They don't have access to the Pacific, and they can project power. They want the island. That's going to have to work into all of our calculations. The more that the Chinese can build up their own nuclear program, their own nuclear weapon program, it gives them somewhat of an upper hand in the Indo-Pacific because we know that that threat is there. Now, expanding on that, what are the risks of this no interest in arms control when it comes to China? We don't trust China not to want to engage in any kind of an arms race. I think we are in one with them. I think in America in particular, there are ignorance over the last several years of investing in missile defense in particular, and in modernizing our own nuclear weapons arsenal has been problematic, and I think that's a problem that's only going to grow in the future. Now, the other calculation, of course, is that if China were to use a nuclear weapon, say in Taiwan, that would be a game changer just like a Russian nuclear strike, a nuclear strike in Ukraine would be. I don't care who the president is. It won't matter who the Prime Minister of Great Britain is. It won't matter who the Prime Minister of Australia is. It won't matter who's running the EU countries. The entire world will now be aligned against China. They know that, but without us having a strong enough diplomacy and a strong enough foreign policy to be able to adequately project that and to adequately communicate that to the current government, all we're doing is enabling them. Indeed. Kelly Sloan, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Next, seven Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, are in Hong Kong's court of final appeal. They hope the last chance hearing will overturn their conviction for illegal assembly five years ago. The attorney representing Jimmy Lai said the seven accused were just practicing their right to peaceful assembly and did not cause any harm to society. The seven attended a peaceful procession in August 2019 in protest of a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing. Chinese authorities are now using the law to tighten control over Hong Kong. The activists were arrested about eight months later. Lai is the former chairman of Next Digital, which published Apple Daily. Apple Daily was a popular newspaper known for its uncensored coverage and criticism of Beijing. A former head of Britain's Supreme Court is sitting among the five judges. That's despite the debate over whether foreign judges should be part of Hong Kong's highest court amid Beijing's increased control. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court decided on a longer deliberation. Beijing reportedly wants the EU to scrap its tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles by July 4th. China's state-controlled media reported the update after both sides agreed to hold new trade talks. Here's more. China is pressing the EU to drop its new tariffs on the country's electric vehicles. Duties of up to 38.1% are due to kick in on July 4th, while the bloc investigates what it says are excessive subsidies. China says that's a mistake, arguing its EV industry has grown thanks to advantages in technology and other factors, not government support. Now, the two sides have agreed to resume talks on the matter, according to reports late Sunday by state-controlled media in China. Visiting the country over the weekend, Germany's economy minister had said the doors for discussion were open. Robert Habeck said he believed in free markets, but added they required a level playing field. Beijing has signalled that it does not want a trade war, but is ready to retaliate if needs be. Officials have reportedly begun an anti-dumping probe into European pork imports, indicating that they could be a target. It's thought dairy goods and some cars could also be hit. The EU tariffs are due to be finalised in early November once the anti-subsidy investigation wraps up. They are driven by concerns that a flood of cheap imports from China could harm European automakers. The US has already quadrupled its tariffs on Chinese EVs over similar concerns. That's all for today's China In Focus on YouTube. We're now sharing a shortened version of our programme here after being demonetised for three years. If you'd like to support us, consider donating. Find us at donorbox.org slash china-in-focus or subscribe to our partner platform, Epic TV, where you can watch our full episodes. Just click the link down below. Here's what to look out for in our second half. At least 47 in one Chinese city are dead as severe flooding wreaks havoc in the region. We zoom into one tragedy where one woman says her mother-in-law was killed by a man-made onslaught. An American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has arrived in South Korea. This as the two countries prepare for military drills with Japan. What's the message to China and North Korea? And what would the future look like in the South China Sea if the Chinese Communist Party is left unchecked? An expert joins us to discuss the CCP's new maritime law in the region. It's an illegal law, if you like, when applied to the international community. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. See you tomorrow.