Taiwanese man charged with 'secession' in China, Taiwan protests

China on Tuesday (April 25) charged a Taiwanese man of "secession". The man has been held by Chinese authorities for eight months. Taipei condemned the move as a rights violation which it said was meant to "create fear".

Yang Chih-yuan was arrested and charged with secession by prosecutors in the eastern Chinese city Wenzhou, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate said.

"The case is under further processing," the state prosecutor's office added in a post on social media, without providing further details.

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Yang (33) is a vice-chairperson of a minor political party which advocates for Taiwan's independence. According to Taiwanese media, he once ran unsuccessfully for the island's parliament.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top China policy-making body, said Yang has been detained since August last year.

"The government stresses again that Yang is innocent and urges the Chinese Communist Party to release him so he can return to Taiwan as soon as possible," MAC said in a statement.

"The Chinese side's arbitrary arrests of Taiwanese people seriously hurt the rights and interests of our people and create fear".

China considers Taiwan to be its own territory and has not ruled out use of force to capture the democratically ruled island nation.

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Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taiwan -- including by arresting several Taiwanese people -- since President Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 election because she regards the island as an independent nation and not part of "one China".

(With inputs from agencies)

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