Tensions between China and Taiwan escalated again after Chinese police added two Taiwanese influencers to their national wanted list and offered a reward equivalent to 30,300 euros for information leading to their capture. According to Beijing, both individuals have long been involved in spreading and encouraging “separatist views,” an accusation China frequently uses against critical voices from the island.
The two targeted figures are Pa Chiung and rapper Chen Po-yuan, both well known among young Taiwanese for their outspoken defense of the island’s identity. Instead of showing fear, they responded with irony: Chen wrote, “the stronger the wind, the steadier I am,” while Pa Chiung joked that he seemed to have become “another Puma Shen,” referring to a legislator from the ruling DPP who was also recently investigated by Chinese authorities for alleged separatism.
The case reflects a broader strategy of political pressure by China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory despite the island having its own democratic government, independent judiciary and electoral system. For Beijing, any public expression that questions its supposed authority over Taiwan is treated as an act of secession, even though Chinese law does not apply on the island.
In response, Taiwanese political figures have publicly denounced what they see as intimidation tactics aimed at silencing those who defend Taiwan’s autonomy. One of them, lawmaker Puma Shen, stated during a hearing at the German Bundestag that China has long attempted “to intimidate the people of Taiwan,” but emphasized that the population will not back down in the face of such threats.
The government in Taipei firmly rejects China’s sovereignty claims and maintains a clear position: only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future. The issuance of rewards and the criminalization of activists, influencers and politicians are part of an intensifying narrative battle across the strait, with China seeking to project authority and Taiwan strengthening its democratic identity.
This episode adds yet another chapter to the deterioration of cross-strait relations and highlights how even social media personalities have become significant players in the political struggle between two opposing visions of the island’s self-determination.
