A leader of Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics was subjected to “border control” when he entered mainland China 18 days ago and has not yet been allowed to return to Taiwan, the island's authorities said today.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the body responsible for relations with China, said that the businessman, whose identity has not been released, left Songshan airport in Taipei on September 1 for Hongqiao airport in Shanghai, in the east of the Chinese mainland, where he was subjected to an inspection on arrival.
In a written statement sent to the state news agency CNA, the MAC said that although he was later released, the Chinese authorities imposed “border control” on the executive - a type of measure that restricts his exit from the country.
The leader has so far been unable to leave China or return to Taiwan, it added.
The MAC said that the Taiwanese government was aware of the incident and that, as the case involves the personal safety of the person concerned and the wishes of the family, it would not “give further details” about what happened.
The government entity clarified that the Taiwanese government will “provide support” if the businessman's family requests assistance in this situation.
The executive works for Formosa Plastics, a petrochemical conglomerate founded in 1954, which is one of Taiwan's largest companies, with a market capitalization of 308.74 billion Taiwanese dollars (around 8.66 billion euros).
According to the Cross-Strait Exchanges Foundation, a private organization, with direct supervision from the Taiwanese government, dedicated to managing technical and commercial issues with China, “border control” is a measure provided for in the Chinese legal system to resolve civil debt disputes or private property issues.
In recent months, and especially after the inauguration of Taiwan's leader, William Lai Ching-te, on May 20, Taipei has tried to make its citizens aware of the risks of traveling to China, which has increased the tone of its threats against those it described as secessionists on the island.
On June 27, Taiwan raised its travel alert for China and the semi-autonomous territories of Hong Kong and Macau to “orange level”, the second highest level, shortly after Beijing announced new measures to punish supporters of the island's independence, including the death penalty.
MAC spokesman Liang Wen-chieh said at the time that in recent years there had been “quite a few cases” of Taiwanese citizens being “illegally detained, held or interrogated” when traveling to mainland China, whose government considers the island - autonomously governed since 1949 - a province of its own.
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