TAIPEI, December 8 ------ Taiwan has launched hotlines for travelers seeking information about their "safety risks" while in China, which recently published tough criminal sentencing guidelines for supporters of the island's independence. The enhanced "emergency assistance services" aim to help address "personal safety risks associated with traveling" to China, Hong Kong and Macao, Taiwan's top China policy body, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), announced. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.
MAC raised its travel warning for China to the second-highest "orange" level earlier this year after Beijing published judicial punishments for supporters of Taiwan's independence. The guidelines announced in June include the death penalty for "particularly serious" cases involving "diehard" advocates. China has "continued to enact and amend national security laws, leading to numerous incidents involving the illegal detention, arrest and interrogation of Taiwanese nationals in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao," MAC said. While Taiwanese people do not have to register their travel to China, the number who have done so this year has soared, figures released by MAC showed.
From January to October, the number of people registering for travel to China's mainland rose "approximately 14 times" compared to last year, the council said. Meanwhile, registrations for Hong Kong and Macao "exceeded five times the total for the same period last year," it added.
Source: manilatimes.net
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