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China sanctions Taiwan ambassador following Taiwan president’s recent US visit – JURIST

China Friday imposed additional sanctions on Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador and representative to the US, prohibiting her and her family from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.Hsiao commented on the sanctions on Twitter, saying, “Wow, the [People’s Republic of China] just sanctioned me again, for the second time,” alongside a photo of the Taiwan Affairs Office statement.This ban comes after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, marking the first time a Taiwan president had met a US speaker on American soil. Tsai was also recently awarded a Global Leadership Award in New York City by the Hudson Institute.Both organizations have stood behind their decisions in response to the Chinese backlash. President and CEO of the Reagan Library, David Trulio, said the organization was “proud of its decision,” while Hudson Institute President and CEO John Walters claimed that the Institute stood “firmly with Taiwan and against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and its ruthless, genocidal policies.”Taiwanese officials, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), have also resisted this ban and the imposition of “these so-called sanctions.” Senior Taiwanese officials rarely enter into the cited regions, and Chinese courts do not have jurisdiction within Taiwan, so the effect of these sanctions will be minimal. Rather, the sanctions have been perceived by MOFA as being yet more “threats and oppression.”In their statement, MOFA noted that:The head of state of the Republic of China (Taiwan) exercises a basic right of a sovereign nation when traveling to other countries to engage in diplomatic activities. China has no right to intervene […] Such irrational behavior not only increases the Taiwanese people’s antipathy to China but also exposes the erratic and absurd nature of the communist regime.